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1-1-1834

Journey to the north of India: overland from England,

through Russia, Persia, and Affghaunistaun (Vol. 1)
Arthur Conolly

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Recommended Citation
Conolly, Arthur Journey to the north of India: overland from England, through Russia, Persia, and Affghaunistaun. London: R.
Bentley, 1834. v. 1, includes 1 folded map 417 pages

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 LONDON :
PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,
Dorset Street, Fleet Street.
 PREFACE.
P -
h
P MY apobgy for submitting this W o r k to
f
I
the notice of the public, inust rest upon the
F
circumstance of my having travelled, by a
new route, througll very interesting countries.
T h e jouriley was undertaken upon a few days'
resolve ; I had not the means of procuring ally
scientific information, did not always enjoy
.%
opportunity of conlmitting my observations to
:Bi
_
i
I
papel; and lost some of my notes; I trust,
i' therefore, that my Jouri~alwill be received P

L .
with the indulgence that it needs.
. For the accompanying sketches of a Toork-
mun Camp, and t11e Affghaun National Dance,
4g *,

-1
I am indebted to the kindness of the talented
j "$ gs
- $? , friends whose names they bear. The Map was
: f: '
:*#%-
'J: , " . G
,

b 7v
constmcted from my owl1 notes.
.);-;-

&"??;
-4
z-

.;kit.&
;9"
 CONTENTS
OF

THE FIRST VOLUME.

C H A P T E R I.
St. Petersburg11.-Russian Church Music.-City of Nov-
gorod. -Moscow. -Distant View of the City- Travel-
ling in Russia.--Fol:midjble Escort.-Passage of the c&-
casus. -Russian Policy.-I-Iospitalitg a t Tinis.- Halt a t
Tnbrecz. . . Page 1
.. C H A P T E R 11.
Jo~wney recommenced. - Severe Weather. - Sudden
Change of Climate.-Earthquake a t Te11raun.-Signor Tur-
coni.-A Medical Professor.-A Receipt of Galen's.-Pre- ,

parations for our Departure.-Ferooz-lc011.-Difficult Roads.

-Credulous 1-Iost.-Provincc of Mazenderaun.-Unhealthy
Climate.-Astrabad.-Toorlcinuns. . 1 3 " .
C H A P T E R 111.
Assumed Character.-Quit Astrabad.-Remarkable Su-
perstition.-Toorkmun Tents. - Toorkmun Hospitality. -
Fanlily of our I-1ost.-Mr. Fraser. . . 28
 vi CONTENTS.

CI-IAPTER IV.
Tribes of the Desert.-The G6klans.-The Tekkalls and
Serruxees. -Tlie Toorkinun Tribes.- Genealogicd Trce.
-
-Yimoot Genealogy. - Halting-Stations. Settlers and
Rovers. - River Goorgaun. - Goorgaun and Astrabnd
Yiinoots. - Galling Neighbours. - Devechee Yimoots. -
Distant View of Astrnbad.-The Soonnees and Sheahs. 35

CI-IAPTER V.
A Preseilt to our Hostess.-Ford the Goorgaun,-Pro-
ceed on our Journey.-Ford the Attruck,-Toorkrnu~~s' Tea-
party.- Ruined City.- Yimoot Tents.- Abstinence of a
- -
I l o ~ s e . Toorkisll Expeditions. Toorlzish Forays. -
Attack upoil Pilgrims. - Quit the Eelghi Camp, - Ac-
cused as n Spy.-- Deserted River-becl. --Branch of tlie
Oxus. - A Repast. -Aujeree and Bnlltan Hills. -
The
Mirage. - Barren Plain. -- Halting-place. - Accuracy of
our Guide. . .
. 50 .
CI-IAPTER VI.
Peerwullee. -New Arrivals. -Apprehended Danger.-
Decision of the Syud. -Departure of Icellije, Suspicious
Conduct of our Guides.-Toorkish Politeness.-Capricious
. Treatment. - -
S~~perstition. Oath of Friendship. - A
-
hoary Hypocrite. Arrive a t a n Oubeh. -Reception.-
Refuse to proceed with our Guides.-A Conference. -
Stolen Sword.-A Warning.-.A Benediction. -Burying-
Ground.-Holy Temple.-Toorkmun Offerings.- Meshed-
-
.e-Misreaun.- Persian Antiquities. An Aiitclope Chase.
 - --

CONTENTS. vii

-
Ile
1
lie Teklcalis ant\
aIogical Trec.
- Settlers
an(\
-
-
Suspicious Conduct. A con~fortless Niglit. Inspection
of Bagpge. - Extortion. -Left ~vitliout Resources. -
. Affected Courtesy of our Guides. -Wandering in the
- Abused in
11 and-
Astrabad
Desert. Peermullee's Insolence.
-The Cazee's Oubeh.
Return.
. 72
hee Yimoots. -
CI-IAPTER T?I.
' Departure of Peerwul1ee.-Effects of Superstition.-De-
rorgaun,-Pro- - -
votions in the Oube11. Romn~lticScheme. Jounley re-
1 oorkmuns' Tea-
-
commenced. Aga Moliuhum~nud Caussim. -A Toorklnun
Tent.-Visit to the Cazee.-Return of Peerwul1ee.-Pre-
kbstineace of u
valence of Disease, - Influencc of the Cazee. -Peer-
- -
wollee's Superstition. Cazee invited to Diiiner. Tlie
Cazee and .tile' Syud.--Take leave of the Cazee.-A for-
gn EIills. - Tlle midable Party.-An inundation. - Reappearance of Peer-

1 - Accuracy of -
wallee. Fording tlie Goorgaun. - Caution to Travellers.
.. . 50
-Return to A9trabad.-Exertions of Friends tliere in our
behalf,-Effects of n Hot Bath.--Religious Prejudices.-
Persian Bigotry. . . 115
CI-IAPTER VIII.
Suspicious Guide.- Caspian Desert.-Political Views of
Friendship. -A 1lussia.-Speculatiol~s of MoravieK.-Porver of the Toork-
inuns. - Khan of ICliivali's authority. - Tribes of tlie
I Conference. - Desert.-Speculations.- Character of the Toor1cmuns.-
tion. -Burying- Anecdote of a Derveish. - Character and Anecdotes of
.ings.- Meslied- -
Shnh Moraud Beg. -Religious Persecution. Toorlcmuil
4ntelope Chase. Mode of Living. -
Mercliandize. - Hospitality. -
Cus-
 CONTENTS. . ix
pitality ai1.d
Iress. -Do- --A false Alarm.-An amusing Fight. . 212
- Marriage
. - Persian CEIAPTER XI.
d labour.-- Road to Meyer. -Village of Meyec-A Persian Beauty.
of Birth.- --Fortifications of Subzawar. -
Population of the City. - ,

Jncleanness Military' strictness. -Speech of 8 Tabreezee..- Persian

. 146 commendations.-An Indian's love 'of Country.-.-Town of
Nesllaboore. - Land Assessmei~ts.- T h e ' Rewass plant:
- Russian Deserters in Persia. - Russian ignorance. - '

~ o s e dby the Visit to the Bath. - Singulnr harangue. - Village of . . '

r a Russian , Cheghir.-fictitious grief.-Approach to. the Holy City. ..

. .
-1,aI.lteey the . .. . . A r r i v a l a t .~,esl,ed.-~o~rtk
. . . ., ,fibom
. . .dstraljad.-~oads:
..
. .. .. ...
, , ,
. , , 238 ', , '
.
presents to , . . , '
.... . . . . . . . . . ,. '
.
' Shazadeh's . . . . . .. .
. . . . CHAPTER XU; . :. . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
'
.
. , '
.. . .
,

. . . ..
. . . .,. .
han and . his . .
.,
.. .. :. . ~ e s h c dtlld; Holy.-Ap~earalic~, qf the. City.- he Saqc-'. .
. .
.
.. . .. : . '

- Russian . . .
. .
: tu&y.- Fixed Population,- Tl!q.Riv+ ~ ~ r o t l i e r ~ . .. - ~. e. &. ~. . . .
....
:ts. . 193 . :. 161isy of the ~oolltis.-~estiv'ai
. . of the. ' ~ o h u r r u r i i . - ~ h e :.
. , . . .
. ,
Martyr, ~ o s s e i n . - ~ I ~ e ' P r i n c e . ' .' 261
. .
;iarut.--'ll~e CHAPTER 'X~II.. . . . . . .. .
, I ... .
oncourse of , . ' . ' . Interior. of .the Sanctuary.-A I\Xirslclb. - Enthusiastic .
. .
's Army.- , '?bvotecs.-A' Persian orator.- kffLctillg scene.-Moosel- . .
. .,
er.-Persian .. p', .
&aun
,
' ~ o r m of Prayer. - A . pertinicious . MoollP. - he'
.- .
of . .Meshed. - A . ~ & c t e d.Ti.agedy. - The. Pel*- ,
'ace of the
" .
.
:
. .. ..Vuze.er .
, .:. - ; -. .
' .. .. . . . . . . . ...
of Singing. f0rniel.s.-The : '. . . .-A ~ ~ n d .&. f u Boy.,
~ u i e e ~, ' $.:Women. l' . '
,
. .
.
, $ ' . . :

-Village, of A n . amusing Tragedy..- ~ t t e m p t e d:~ a n v e r s i o a r-'Rjdi- _.

. . , '

- Dangerous culous Peasant. -Prince Ahmud Allee Meerza. -Poli- .

bassabad. -
. . . tical 1gaorance.-A Persian Courtier.-Tribes of Persia11
 b

. CONTENTS.

-
Kl~ovassaun.-A fine Country. Province of the Black
Tribc. - Character of Mollummud Illinn. -His singular
reverse of fortune.-His persolla1 nppearance. 270.
CHAPTER XIV.
1Chnff.-Tribe of Soonnee Hazaure1~s.-Visit to Meerza
Abdqol Jownut.-His 13ospitality.-Manners of the Per-
sia~is and thc Frcnch compared. - State of the Jews a t
Mcs11ed.-The -
Synagogue. The Kctkhoda.-A Jewisl~
Wedding. - Sacred Melodies. - T h e Author's celebrity
as a Hakeen1.-Invitation to the Calenter's. , . 294

h.
CHAPTER XV.
Visit from the Meerza Abdool Jowaut.-Cook's Surgery.
-Tbc Physician and the Smelling Salts. -Visit to the
Na~vnub Mehdee Allce IChan, Son of the late King of
Lucknow.-Taken, with a Cnravnu of Pilgrims, by tlle
Toorkmuns.-False Reports. -Meshed -
Stories. MoollB
Shumsllc1i.-The Vuzeer's Attention to Business.-Moolli
-
Youssuf. - Official Excuses. Arrival of ICoord and AE.
gliaun Troops at Meshed.-Bustle in the City.-Chant of
the Muezzins.-Lively Scene in the After11oon.-Good
Order disturbed by ,the Affghauns.-Their Expulsion. 310

CHAPTER XVI. .
Hatred ofthe Sects of the Sheahs and Soonnees.-Mooll&
Mohu1nmud.-Reflections on .the ineans of converting the
Persialls to Christia1lity.-Marc11 of the Troops against
the Toorkmuns.-Cholera Morbus a t Tabreez,-Illness. of
 the Syud.-Rogueries of Anleer Allee.--His pretensions
to Alchemy.-Villany of his Wife.- Departure of Aga
Mohummud Caussim.-Cemeteries of Mcshed. 329 .
CHAPTER XVII.
11s.-Vihit to &1&r2a Difficulty of obtaining nloney.-State of Trade.-Taxes
01' t I ~ e JrC1-'
Iurn~~lt*rs on iMercl1andise.-Imports ancl Exports. -Prices of Provi-
4t.itu of tltc JewS at sions, Camels, an? Horses.- Climate. - Return of the
~.thllc~tla.-h , ~ u . c * ' i ~ b Allied Troops. -History of the Affg11auns.-Sllall Kml-
I Al~tIlor's C C I L ' W ~ C Y raun. - Application to the Vuzeer. - His Caution and
!tlrVs. , . 994 Apologies. - Hard Bargain with Gholnm Reza. Sup--
posed Reasons of Mohummuil Moollh's ICind11ess.-Fare-
well Visit to the Vuzeer. . 345 .
-
;ul ts. Yiait to the CHAPTER X V ~ .
~f t11c lutc K i n g of Departure from Meshed with the ~ f f ~ ~ i army.-Marc11
aun .
1)y tile
i f I'iIgri~~~s,
-
of the ICafilali. Ignoral~ce of the Route. -Ilalt for the
811 Stories. - AbolIG. Night.-Punishment of the Hazaure11s.-Confusio~~ of the
o 131i\irlc~s.-,\.~~>
ollG
Mal.ch.-Bed of the Herirood.-Toorbut-e Shaikh Jam.-
ot' Iioonl ant1 Aff-•
Lovcs of Lylee inid Mt1jl10011.-Depredations on the Hus-
t11c C1ity.-Chnil t of
bandmen.-Tummeenauga.-The deserted Town of I<ouskn.
a?if'tcr~looi~.-Good
-Duty levied on the ICafila11.- Summons fkom the Sirdar.
lcir I<spulsion. 3 10
-His Inquiries conoe~ningthe Author.-Ignorance of tlie
Asiatics respecting European Nations. . . 370
CHAPTER X X .
S of convcrtil~g tile
3Xosanuck.-Arrival a t Heraut.-Filthy Lodging nt a Ca-
the Troops fig :1'l ~ s
r~breez,-l[llncss of
t
ravansera. - A resolute Impostor.- I-lis attempt at Extor-
tion,-Reception of him by the Syur1.-A
.
Persian Quar-
 O F .1B

OVERLAND JOURNEY
TO ' l ' l l f <

NORTH O F INDIA.

St. Petcrsburg1i.-Russian Church Music.-City of Nov-

gorod.-Moscow. - Distant View of the City,- Travel-
ling in Russia.-Forniidable Escort.-Passage of the Cau-
casus.--Russim~ Policy-IIosl~itality a t Tiflis.--llnlt at
Tnbreez.

QUITTING London on the 10th of August

1629, I travelled through France and the
&Tort11 of G e r ~ n a n yto Hambargh, and, em-
barlting on board a stcani vessel a t Trave-
m u r ~ d eon the 1st of September, sailed up
the Baltic and the Gulf of Fillland i11 four
days to St. Betersburgh.
I11 this capital I mas joined by two friends
and fellow - travellers t o Persia, Captain $ trong,
of tile Bombay military service, and Captain
TVillock, R.W., who had come from Hatn-
VOI,. I . U
k 2 ST. 1'1:,TBlLS DU II (;Il.
bnlgh uid De~~llanrlr. and Sweden. mTe s ~ e n t
a pleasant month here, being enabled, tllrougll
the kir~dnessof the premiel*, Coullt Nesselrode,
,
, . and other gentlemen to 'whom mre brought
letters of int,roduction, to see much of vrrllat
is interesting in this wondel*f~11and e v e r new
looking city of palaces, the churches, acade-
mies, and public institutions, which do indeed
appear as if they had risen together h y en- ,

cl~an tment on the granite-bound banks of the

magi~ificent blue Neva.
As it was not the season, the c o w t and
nobility mere ,out of town, so t h a t n r e did
not enjoy the honour of being presented to
t l ~ eEmperor, and had no opportunity of mix-
ing ill Russian society ; but, i t b e i n g fortu-
nately a period of rqjoicing, t h e Eznperor
occasionally came in from the countl-y palace
of Tzarsltoe-selo, i11 the environs of wlricl-, he
had assembled a small army for f i e l d nl&-
rzuvres; ancl, besides witnessing i n St. IIDeters-
burgh the grand annual fete of St. Alexancler
Nevsliy, we heard Te 1)ennzs chanted for
happy events in the Tnrkisb war, a l ~ d .were
presellt a.t a grand thanlisgiving and ~ m i l i t a ] . ~
/I, 8 spectac1.e on tile annuuciation of peace
I
. . t h e Sublime Porte. Not having m y notes to
 scriptions of what rewarded our travel to
this city." I c;~nrlot, liowcver, forbear to
lnentio~lthe gratification we elljoyed on hear-
i n g the Eussian vocal chu~*climusic, tlian
which ,no harmony can he conceived more
subliniely beautiful ; it would be worth while
travelling t o St. Petersburgh if only t o llcar
it. TIle review of nearly twenty thousand
troops on the Champ d e Mars, t o celebritte pence
with the Turl<s, was a grand sight, and gavc
us an opportunity of seeing sonre of t l ~ ebest
1, tllc co11rt a n d regiments of the guard. Thc soldiers were
s I t -.c-e d i d i n t l ~ efinest order, and when the Empvrov
irlg p ~ ~ c n t etod was at their head, Ile looked worthy to be
t j - nix-
) o i ' t ~ ~ ~ l iof 101-d of all the Russians."
, it , fol-tu- A s winter was fast approaclling, and as our
, tllc: l+Z~mperor journey was to be a long one, we advertised our
c c l o t t l t~ r y p a l a c e intended departure thr'ee times in thc Gazette,
-011sof ~ v ~ f i c hh e according to the regulation t o prevent persons
foi. i i c l d r n h - from stealing a march up'on their creditors;
111.g ill S t , P e t e r s - and then, being furnished with passports, we
of SC;I.~ . P l e x a n d c r prepared t o journey on t o Persia. My friend
v ~ s c . l i n n f ; e d for 8. and I purchased, for 900 roubles, a ligllt
, I 1d were britchlia on four springs, which we povisioned,
i l g crtnc'l zxxilitary
and fitted up for day and night travelling;
of I J C ~ C ~
";;1f"Y l l o t e s to * For a good sketcll of St. Petersburgl~,I reconlmend t l ~ c
travels of Captain Jones, R.N.., a work fro111 the perusnl of
i t1 dc- which much infor~llatiollaild arnusemellt may be gailled.
B 2
 CITY OF NOVGOltOD.

and for 550 roubles we bought a smaller

carrii~ge to corltaiil our baggage, of which
we gave charge to our French valet, C a p t a i n
TTT, bought a good English-built carriage fol*
himself; and, a t the cost of 1000 roubles,
we jointly engaged the se~.vices of a n E n g -
lisl~maninany years resident iia Russia, who,
as servant: and interpreter, accompanied us to

T h e last t l ~ i n gthat we provided for o u r

jouriley were sable caps, and soft IeatIier jack-
boots, lined with wool, t o keep oar extremities
l a arm ; and racoon sltin shookes, huge cloaks
worn .rrtith the fur inside, which are a defence
agair~stold Elyeins himself. Our money w e
carried in bills upon &loscow, and, provided
wit11 necessary letters of introduction as far as
Tiflis, we drove out of St. Petersburgh on
the nooil of the 8th of October, and travelled,
in five days and nights, 727 verstes to t h e city
of nlIosco.rv.
On our route we passed througli the once
great city of Novgorod, which is now only
ren~arliablefor tlie decayed vestiges of its for-
mer magnificei~ce, and for being the head-
quarters of the first military colony, established
by the therefore famed Count ilrrachief. T h e r e
was little, in t l ~ e general appearance of t h e
 n allel. country to interest the eye ; we saw parts of
a very fine macadamised highway, ~vllic11, it
13tai11 was said, would be tllro~v~i ope17 the ricxt yertr;
b u t OLIP road was a veiy bad one, smdy, i ~ l ~ i d d y ,
~ over the trulilcs of trees, wliicl~ liad been
1 b 1 ~ ~ 01-
I3 ng-- laid across it, and we experienced so lnucll
~ 3 1 0 ~ weariness from t l ~ ejolting, that we were very
1s to glad to see the spires of the ancient capital of
the Muscovites.
our A t Xloscow we remained only four days,
iack- for the first snow of the season falling 01.1 the I
~ities second day after our arrival made us feel .
oalcs anxious to be across the Caucasus; we made
tile most of our time however - ascended
heights to survey the city in its different as-
pects, and wandered through its quarters,
'
which are fast rising, phcenix-like, from their
ashes, though they still bear many traces of
the conflagration which was so heroically fan-
ned. W e saw the Kremlin, and the curiosi-
ties that its walls contain-were show11 splendid
modern buildings, with churches and convents
of most ancient, strange, and varied stl-chitec-
ture, and 11ad reason to be delighted with all
I
;head- that we witnessed among the semi-Asiatic
islxed people of tl~is extraordinary city, except a
here gross and idolatrous superstitiot~, which can
the scarcely be imagined by a Protestant, and
6 DlSTANT V I E W OF TIlE CI'YY.

which caiiuot be too deeply lameuted by any

Chris tian.
Mere we cashed our bills for Russian ducats,
which I believe are a good rernittallce t o most
parts of the world, and 011 the 17th of October
resumed our route. From the last of a s ~ i c -
cession of hills, which rise gradually above each
other in a distance of four verstes, we loolced
back up011 the painted and gilded roofs and cupo-
las of the city of forty times forty churches,"
which lay en Pnnsse 011 either side of the river
lIoslcva, backed by a deep blue sky that told
of snow : while w e looked, the flakes began -
to fall tlliclr about ~ z s ; so, wrapping ourselves
in our fur cloalrs, we set our faces resolutely
towards Asia, and bade the Isvoschtshicks give
tlie rein and whip to their Horses.
'P'lie thermometer this afternoon stood a t 34"
P;'ahreoIieit; a week latter, when, after travel-
ling day and night, we reached the town of
Veronetz, at nine in the morning i t was 6" be-
low zero. As we rail south, we seemed j u s t
to keep ahead of the snow ; whenever we
halted i t overtook us, a i ~ dwe hurried on day
o~idnight rvith as little intermission as pos-

On the night of the 24th we crosseci the

Don into tlie Cossack ro~intry; llalted t h c
26th anc1 2Rth at 'kcherkaslr, the recent capital
of thc Do11 Cossacks ; on the 28th again crossed
this noble river into Asia, and continued our
rapid journey over the steppes to the Cau-
CSLSLIS.
W e chose our own roacl upon the turf of
these vast plains, and galloped across them with
six sturdy horses attached to each vehicle,
halting only an ~ I O L I ~morning
, or evening, to
refresh ourselves with ablutions and food, or
occasioually for a few lnintltes during the day,
to get a shct a t busta~d,florican, or wild fowl.
'4'here was n o t l ~ i n gelse on the face of the
cour1t1-y t o invite our stay, and the less we
entered houses, the less we suffered from the
attacks of the vermin which have taken a
lease of Russia ; t h e road was as safe as easy,
and, after rolling sn~oothlyalong all day, we
used t o put a, board between the seats of our
carriage, and, buried in our furs, sleep soundly,
if not very coinfortably, throughout the bright
cold nights.
During this part of our journey, we saw no
people except those who inhabited the small
villages a t the government posts, links in the
c11ain of cornm~u~icatioi~ thrown over this vast
empire, through which the mandates of the
Czar are coilducted to their point as by elec-
 tricity, and to which lcootoo is performed as
revereiltially as to the indisputable decrees of
the Eulperor of China.
Ollr route lay tlirough the towns of Stavra-
pol, Alcxandrof, ;111ci Georgevsk, to Eltaterine-
g l ~ d e ,where we ar1-ived 011 the 3rd of Novem-
ber, and were detained until the Sth, whe11, a
si~fficieilt party of travellers having nsseinbled,
I
we were allolved to proceed slowly under escort r
of sonle Terek Cossacks, a party of infantry,
and a tnlclve-pounder, to defend us against
1
attacli from any of the yet unsubdued Circas-
sian tribes. I n this nlannel., me travelled to
Vladi Caiicasc, which wc reached in three
days: this is the last post on the northern
side of the Caucasus. On the 12th of No-
veniber, we set out, still cscorted by soldiers, 1
1 : and ~~~~~~cl~ing under their protection through ,
f I ancl over tl~esestupendous
- mountains in five j
:I
days; in the course of two more we drove to
! 1 Tiflis.
I
I W e had t ~ v orathcr laborious days' jouriiey
i .Il
I11
over the snow in the Caucasus; our carriages,

1 1,
I

/I
I however, were not much i ~ ~ j u r c d . On our
route, we met a troop of horse artillcry coming
from the war, the soldiers attached t o which,
lned to light of c
the 110 rliere the
 PASSAGE OF TI-IE CAUCASUS. 9
occasionally ~~nharnessing them, while with
ropes they drew or lowered the guns u p and
dowii the slippery steeps. As a specimei~of
R~issiansoldiership, I may mention that, early
one morning, we . came upon a regiment of
in fan try bivo~iacltedin reg:ilar order upon the
snow.
The Russians do not yet command free
passage t h ~ o u g hthe Caucasus; for they are
obliged to be very vigilant against s~lrpriseby
the Circassian sons of the mist, who still cherish
the bitterest hatred against them. In some
instances, tlie Russian posts on the right of the
defile, were opposed to little stone eyries,
perched upon the opposite heights; and when
any nu~mberof t l ~ eCaucasians were observed
descending the great paths on the mountain's
side, the Russian guards would &rn out and be.
on the alert. hTot very long before our arrival,
we learned that a party of Circassians, had, in
thesheer spirit of hatred, lain in ambush for a
return gua1.d of some sixteen cossaclts, and
lcilled every man.
Such facts seem to argue much wealcrless on
the part of the Russians; brzt great have been the
difficulties they have coiltended wit11 in keep-
ing the upper hand over enemies whose hauxlts
are almost illaccessible to any but themselves.
 RUSSIAN POLICY.

F Several colonies of these ferocio~zsmoruntain-

F
eers have been captured and l;~'ansplantedto
1 villages of their own in tlie l~lains,where they
are gual.dcd, and live as sulkily as wild beasts ;
I .
and a general crusade, if 1 may be allowed tile
expression, has been talked of for sollle years
1 past, to sweep snch unta~neableenemies from
the mountains, and settle thein on the plains in
* I the interior of Russia. H a d General Pi:slto-
vitcl~undertaken such an excellent method of
rooting out troublesome enemies, and incrcns-
ing the population of the steppes, I makc no
1
I doubt that he would have succeeded in it, see-
ing what a judicious and indefatigable solclier
he is. Whatever policy is now adopted to-
wards this people, the Xussians xvill find i t an C
easy task, coinparatively with former times, to
reduce them to obedience, sil~ce they Imve 1
obtained possession of Anapa and Poti, on I
the easl; s1iol.e of ttie Blrtclr Sea, where the
T ~ l r k s used to furnish their friends ~ v i t l ~
supplies, w hicll enabled tl~elnto sustain tlle

At Tiflis we rested a week, during wbicli

time we experienced much civility and kind-
ness at the hands of General Count Paskovitcll,
and the Russian officers uncler his command;
nor mustdHomit to acknowledge the very polite

I
 LITY

in- attentions for which we reinain indebted to

to that excellent anrentleman, the Chevalier Garnba,
French consul. ere we saw some of the
s; hardy-loolriag soldiers who 11ad gained Pasko-
t le vitch's victories ; among thein a regiment of
!I.R dragoons.
" who the count said had taken a fort
--

by galloping int
-
ore the gates conld be
closed; and also a large irregi~lar corps of
Russo-Persians, chiefly men of the ceded pro-
vince of Karabaugh, who had done good ser-
vice agzainst the Turks. Though we arrived
just too late for a ball which had bee11 given
to the Turltish asha as made prisoilers during
the war, we danced at another, given to the
army by the Georgian 1nercl.lants of the city.
-
Our lodging was in a tumble-down house kept
L,

by a French sut tler, o had set up as an inn-,

3 keeper ; but we had the entrCe at governmei~t-
1 house, and were hospitably entertained by the
, different cliiefs to whom we were introduced,
I and, in short, amused ourselves so well that we
! were sorry to depart.
Here we sold our carriages for about two-
thirds of the money that they had cost 11s at
St. Petersburgh, and .rchasing horses, march-
ed along the HCur, vid Gunja, or, as it has been
cllristeiled, Elizabeth-pol to the curious hill-
fortress of Sheesha, which a handfill of brave
 HALT AT TABREEZ.

Russians ltept in defiance of Abbas Meerza's

army during t h e lust war. Thence our m u t e
lay nwoss the Arrass into Pcrsis, and reaching
Tabreez about Christmas-clay, we spent tlle
r the very pleasant society of t h e ladies
w i l ~ t e in
and .gentlemen who mere with the British mis-
rlbbrs
(~hmco
M ~ ~ ~ + z
e ur 1-0~ltc
"IS
JOURNEY RECOMMENCED. 13

trsia, and x - e a c l l i 1 lb'

'ay, I r e s p e n t t l w
Lciety of t h e 1 ~ 1 .its d
T
h the B r i t i s h 1x1is-

Joul-ney recommencec1.-Severe Weat1ler.-Sudden Cl~unge

of Climate.-Eartl~~ualce at Te11rnun.-Signor Turconi.-
A Medical Professor.-A Receipt of Galen's.-Prcpara-
tions for our Departure.--Ferooz-ko11.-Difficult Ronds.
Credulous Host.-Province of Mazenderaui1.-Unliealtl~y
Climate.-Astrabad.-Toorltmuns.

MY original intention had been t o travel on

with my friend Captain Strong t o the south of
Persia, and to elnbarlr a t Bushire for Bombay ;
but now, thinking that I rnight get to India
by an ovei-land route, and being desirous of
adding t o the inforinatioll obtained respecting
the interesting and little travelled countries of
the Toorkrnt~nsand Affgl~auns, I determined
to attempt a journey either vid IChiva, 7301~-
hara, and Caubul, or t l ~ r o u g hKhorasshl and
Aff'haunistaun, to the Indus. I hncl the good
fortune t o engage as my companioii, Syud Hn-
r a u m u t Allee, an unprejudiced, vcry clevel;
and gentlemanly native of Hincloost:"l, wlio
 had resided n ~ a i l yyears in Persia, and was
held in great esteem by the English there ; and
I
I llad afterwards ~ n ~ z cI*eason
li to congfatulate
myself up011 having so agreeable a compai~ion;
1 '
I for i t nlas owilig to his assistance in a great
measure that I am to attribute my having safely i
i completed the journey. 1
Sir John &%acdonald,who was a t this tiine 1
I
' I Britisll envoy to the Persian court, gave m y ,
design every assistance, furnished me with let-

+
i :
I
ters liliely to be of service to me, and most
kindly authorised me t o draw bills upon him
during my journey. W e engaged two ser-
vants, purchased three ambling galloways, and
i

hired two mules ; ul~d,all our preparations be- I

I
I
ing coinpleted in a few days, on the 6th of ti .
!
March I830 I took leave of many kind friends,
and rode ii.0111 T a b ~ e e z .
TVe made fourteen ~nalschesto Tebraui~,b y
the well-known high road tllrough Meeana,
Zunjan, and Casbine. Deep silow covered the
ground neal.ly all the way, and our road was I

a narrow foot-path, ~vllic11 if we missed we i

were plunged up to the horses' girths i n tlie

drifts on either side. Altogether i t was rather i
t
an unpleasant journey, for \liremere exposed t o i
mucli bad nreatlier, and our eyes suffered greatly i
fro111 the glare of the snow, which tanned our
i

;
I
 SUDDEN CILANGE OF CLIMATE. 15

2, a i ~ dw u S faces as black as a scorching sun would have

there;and done. TVc, ho~vever, always got comfortable
:ongr'atiilate lodging a t night, .in the houses of the village
: o i r ~ p a n i o;~ ~ " ICetkliodas," and my companion and the ser-

ill a g r e a t vants reconciled themselves t o the annoyances

wing s a f e l y of the journey, by reflecting that they were
excused from t h e strict fast enjoined upon all
t this t i l n e who remained a t home in this month (ltama-
:, g a v e my zan). Altliough we left Tabreez yet in the
e w i t h let- depth of winter, such was the diflerence of
a n d most climate, that a fortnight afterwards, when we
upon h i m reached 'kehraun, the trees were bursting illto
1 two ser- blossom ! W e took u p our abode in the Eng-
)WcZYS, a13d lish residency, a building after t l ~ eEuropean
r a t i o n s be- style enclosed in a beautiful walled garden.
;he 6 t h of A t Tehrauu, our object was t o obtain bills
t~d for the road. Sir Jolin Macdonald had referred
me to a Hindoo, his banker, i n t h e city ; b u t
1ira~z11,by unfortunately t h e man was a t this titne ab-
i Meeana, sent a t Uezd: and wliile we were endeavour-
overed t l c~ ing to find scllle inerchaiit who would arrange
r o a d was our affair, tbe city was visited by a severe
ilissed w e earthquake, which drove t h e inhabitants from
tlis i n t h e their houses, a n d business was consequently a t
xas r - a t l ~ e ~ a stand.
s p o s e d to Though eartllquakes are events of coznmoil
?d g x - e a t X y occurrence in Persia, the panic struck by this
131-1e r3' o u 1- one was great. Several houses were thrown
 , ,
16 EART~IQUAKBAT TEIIRAUN.
, '
down, and part of the arched brick bazaar fell
' ,
in ; a i d so sudden was the visitation, that many
. . of the inhabitailts rarl from their dwellings
. . without caring for their property. A s we rode
througl~the bazaar after the first shocks, we
saw the deserted shops open, with the various
g.
g' goods left on the boards as they had been dis-
!
played for sale. I n gardens and all open
: I .
places, families were grouped with their most
i
valuable portable effects ; in some cases the
, '.
sick had been hurried from their dwellings ;
and mournful salutations and arixious enquiries
were exchanged by those who inet each other
in the streets ; in fact, sadness was depicted
upon every face.
T h e prince, governor Allee Shah, gave me
audience a few days afterwards in a garden of
the palace, seated i11 one of a suite of tents that
had been pitchecl for his acconl~nodation; and
the chief officers of the Court were encamped in
the open courts of the citadel, transacting busi-
ness. W e heard of a man, who, having gone to
a house-top to say his prayers, had been left
there by the falling of the stairs by which he
had asceaded; and inany were the instances
related of tragical deaths and providetltial

This unfortunate event delayed us longer

 SIGNOR TURCONI. 17
lr bazaar fell than we intended to have stayed a t Tehmun.
~n,that M Y colnpallion was occupied i11 seeking for a
dlye l l i l l g S merchant td10 would g i w us bills, and in
A s we rode making. enquiries about the different roads;
; sliocks, we there was a good library in the Residency, and I
h the had an acquaintance who frequently visited me,
ad bcen dis- to preveat, as he said, the hours passing heavily. -
~d a l l ope11 This was an Italian yontll, named Signor Tur-
h their most coni, (the last of the Turconis, he assured me,)
ne cases t h e who was by profession an Esculapius, and at-
r drvellir~g ;~ tached to the service of one or two great men
,us enquiries about the court.
t e n c l ~other This gentleman cvas dressed in a long red
mas depicted clot11 vest of Asiatic cut, pantnloons, and Per-
sian slippers, gills, and a silk neclrcloth, and a
all, gave me Persian cap, covering long auburn loclrs wliicli
a garden of flowed half way down his back. His account
of tents that. of himself was as extraordinary as his appear-
~ d : ~ t i o;n and ance. H e said that he had travelled from
e u c a l n p e d in Naples to London, and at the latter city had
s a c t i n g b LI si- taken his passage for America. H e embarked
v i n g gone t o on board a vessel laden with coals, and, after
n d bcen left having bcen tossed about for six weeks, and
3y which l i t ? fed with nothing but potatoes, was landed .at
he instanccs Liverpool, and told to amuse himself tllere
p s o v i d e n tittl awhile. Not understanding this, and having
acquired a distaste for the sea, he had gone over
to France, and wandered across tllc Continent
V O L . I. C
 A MEDICAL PROFESSOR.

froin place to place, until he found himself at

Constantinople, whence he had travelled on to
Persia.
The labels of some medicine bottles that I
had brought from Tabreez having been wetted
on the journey, I requested my acquaintance
to look at the phials and re-label them. After
a few excuses about the difference of English
and Italian practice and medicaments, &c. the
Signor was frank enough to confess that he had
not received a college education, but that he
was a sort of amateur practitioner. When I
first came to Iran, uoyeg vozu," said he, cc every-
body asked me for physic ; and seeing that
* they only considered me ill-natured when I re-
fused to doctor them, I ventured upon a gentle
experimental treatment, and succeeded so won-
derfully well, that I began to think lightly of
the diffic~lltieswith which professors have en-
compassed the science. The constitution of a

that yon have only to--and to--to get the

better of any of the common mdladies that
afflict people. 1 have some treatises upon the
fundamental principles of medicine, as taught
liy the earliest sages, to which I refer in difficult
 cess, voyew vous, is this : J'ai beaucoup, beaucoup
de cozcrage; 1 never let a disease keep quiet
possession of a body, but instantly attack it
wit11 sowething or other."
W e visited our friend's quarters one day, and
1 fonnd him drowning two vipers in a large
bottle' in order to form a decoction, " according
to a receipt of Galen's," whicb be intended to
administer to one of the ladies of the royal
harem. " Yoyew !" said he, uncovering a tray on
~ ~ h i were
c h some small articles of embroidery,
and cakes of sugar-candy, " this is how the
ladies pay : did you see an old woman muffled ~

, np in her veil as you came in ? that is an old

white head' of another female inmate of the
Shah's harep, to who111 I an1 going to send this
little box. I am in favour there, and receive
mountains of sugar-candy. I take no other fee
but sweets from le beau s h e , voyew vous; for
Hossein Khan's sirdar and others give me as
much gold as I need." At parting I gave my
acquaintance a lancet, and received the present
of a box of his own pills, which I was cautioned
only to administer to men, and not more than
three at a time. Some time after, I tried two
upon a sick muleteer, and as they were nearly
strong enough to lcill him, I thougllt i t prudent
to throw the rest away.
c 2
20 PnEPARATIONS Poll OUlZ DEPARTURE. ?

Syud I<araumut Allee failed in his endea-

vours t o obtain bills for the road, but 11e nict ,
~vitlla wortliy Guebre merchant, MoollA B?'iraln,
who offered to cash a bill upon the envoy, and, 1
-
assuring us t l ~ a there
t were no regular
.- ballkers
on the roads we proposed travelling, reco 111 -
1
mended us to carry what we required with us.
Suffeling ourselves t o be guided by his advice,
Tve drew for a sum that, added to our stock, we
calculated would pay our expenses all the way
t o India, and converted the whole into gold
ducats (of Russian coinage), which we secured
in belts round our waists. IloollB Bairam f ~ ~ r -
ther gave us letters to some Astrnbad merchants,
.who, ive were assured, would render us any
assistance in their power. Every thing else
being now arranged for our departure, I went
to t h e bath, and submitted my head to t h e
razor, for my beard bad bee11 gsowiilg for two
months, so that when I came O L I ~dressed in
-Persian apparel, my companion declaved that as
-soonas the weather had tanned my neck, I should
pass very good muster for a kuzzilbAsh.
On the 6th of April we took our deparkire
from the capital, and rode out fifteen miles
.easterly to J~ljjer-rood, a rapid stream in a
n a i ~ o wbarren glen, which we forded with
some difficulty, by reason of the loose stones in
 - *L*k*"%"I * ------- .-*-- -

TEROOZ-1C011.

d i n his enden- its bed. On the other bank was n brick cara-
3ad, b u t 21e 1 3 1 ~ t vAnsere, a solita1.y il-rstance of the reigning
,MoollA 13air:i11~, monarch's extravagance. As part of this builcl-
t h e e n v o y , RIIC% ing appeared to have lately fallen, we did not
r e g u l a r bank el's venture to lodge in any of its cells, but spread
avelling, reco ul- our beds in the centre of the square ; wcll was
zquired wit11 11s. it that we did so, for about midnight we were ,

2d by h i s advice, slvakeiled by s heavy rurlnbling sound that

to our stock, TVC seemed to pass uilder the ground we lay upon,
nses all the ~ v n y and, starting up in alarm, we saw the briclrs of
w h o l e into gold the different apartments falling all yound us.
hich w e secured I have not recovered my iiotes of our journey
3ollii $airam fin- from Tehraun to Astrabad, but I reinember that
rnbad mei-ch;rnts, we made three marches of a distance between
1 render us any sixty and seventy miles, from Jujjer-rood to
Cvery t h i n g else Perooz-koh, a town of three hundred llouses,
eparture, 1 xve11t romantically built on and at tlie foot of a
m y head t o the sweeping hill, opposed to which is a very high
growing for t w o rock, crowned with the ruins of a, castle, whicli
: o u t dressed i r ~ in the history of A ~ n e e rTimour is styled,--
<< the mother of l'ersiail forts, whose height is
1 d e c l a r e d t11:lt: a s

ny neck, I s2loul~f to the sky, n i ~ dwbose strength is a proverb."

~zzilbAs11. Four days' more il~archtook us a distance of
k our departure about ninety miles to Sari, the capital of Ma-
~ n fifteen.
t rklilcs zenderaun, which, though termed a fortress, 1s
)id strealm in ;t a place of no strength, bat a moderate-sized
we forded town, surrounded with a briclr wall, breast high.
le loose s t < > ~ l e
i lsl
Here wc crossecl tlie river Tedjcn, by a once
 82 DIFFICULT ROAUS.

fine bridge of seventeen arches, some of wlliell

\yere nearly broken away from each other.
JVe were told that his majesty Futteh A l I e e
Shall, Geetee Sooltaun, (the Grasper of the Uni-
verse,) had sent 1500 tomauns for the repair of
this bridge; but that his son ~ l o h u r n r n ~ ~ d
. Ilouli Meerza Mookkara, (the Ornament of the
Land,) had caused a few boards to be laid over
the broken arclles, and kept the money to p a y
the Ghazeeaun-e-IslAm (tl-le warriors of IslArn
--his soldiers) ; a courtier-like mode of express-
ing that the prince had put the money into his
own pocket.
I t may be imagined that the roads in t h e
province of such a governor were not of t h e
best. Once a public spirited individual began
to repair the fine causeway that Shah Abbas
made, but a stop was presently put t o h i s
undertaking by a message from the capital,
intimating that if he had any spare cash t h e
prince would be glad of it. The road up m a n y
of the ascents was worn into steps by the f e e t
of beasts of burden, and over parts of the lol.lr~
grounds had been converted into a morLlss: 1
ternember the day that we rode into Sari, mre
nearly lost one of our horses in a bog,
wandered in all directions seeking a path, lln t-1
we lllet a person who knew the county. See-
 CREDULOUS IIOST, 93
ing this Inan at some distance, threading his
way as if with some knowledge of its bearings,
we hallooed to him to atop awhile, and when
we had come up, begged that, as we were
strangers in those parts, he would ride at our
head and guide us. " A n d was it for this,',
said the man angrily, " that you shouted from
so far off to detain me? I shoe hokes for the
soil of the king, and do ~ O L suppose
I I am going
to feel a way for you? No,-find your own
road !" which was the greatest impoliteness I
ever experienced in Persia.
I had a letter to the Prince who was gover-
nor at this place, but saw no nec6ssity for deli-
vering it, and we abode in the house of a blaclr-
smith, who believed the report of our servant
Meshed-e Norooz," that I was an Indian
Khan, travelling the round of holy places, and
was most prodip1 of his respect for my rank,
though he could not reconcile the difference of
our complexions, until the Syud assured him
that the men of Hind were of all shades, fiom
pure white to tbe darkest brown. It would
not have been difficult t o persuade this person
of any thing; for, when h e asked whether it
was true, that in Hindoosan there were vil-
lages of sorceresses who tnrned their h~zsbands
into dogs during the day lime, that they might
24 PROVINCE UP 3IAZENUBRAUN.

not be taken from them, and tlie Syud an- fan

swered liiln that it mas, - 11e said, " Well ! w11i
I ' v e often heard this, but never believed it the
~iilti1ilow.'' less
O ~ r jouriiey
r thro~gl1Mazendera~xnlvas de- of r
lightful. I t is a j~rovinceof high mountains, " g
which are clothed from base to sulllillit with be:
the forest ancl fiuit trees of Europe and Asia. 1111
,
W i l d vines of gigantic growth twine r o m ~ d Slll
tlie large trees, and drop their tendrils froin tlic ftll
highest branches. Tlle walnut, the mulberry, vi11
the pear, and poinegrailate trees were in pro- 1"'
fusion, a i d their blossoms were in beautiful tll t
relief to the dark foliage of the forest trees : the v il
turf was green and elastic, and covered with
flowers. VlTe enjoyed lovely weather, and the
fresh air was always perfumed with the scent
of the wild rose and the hawthorn.
T h e narrow valleys between the high inoun-
tains are cut in steps, like the hanging gardens
of Lahore. Through each one falls a stream,
the'water of which, being raised to the level of
the highest step, falls successively upon the
others into its bed again. On these ridges is
grown rice, the staple food of tlie people, and
an article of considerable export. A great
quantity of coarse sugar is also grown in Ma- tll
xenderan, and exported; and tlle proviiice is WI
 UNIIEALTIIY CLIMATE. 25
: the Syud :II'; faalcd for the inanufacture of grass cloths,
said, 6 c M ~ C- ! J ~ which are taken t o a11 parts of Persia. Thougli
rer believecl it the mulberry-tree is common, the silk-wortn is
less attended to than in the adjoining province
ieraun was tll!' of Ghilan, the capital of which, Resllat, is still
igh inoun tni115* a great mart for silk. D4azendera~111,though a
o suminit will' beautiful and productive province, has a very
lrope and ~ l s i i l - nnhealtlly climate during half the year ; for, in
h twine roull" suminel; a malaria, caused by the thick damp
ildrils froni t I I€-* forests and saturated rice grounds, renders the
the mulbcl~j', valleys uninhabitable; and it is said that the
IS were in lroc prodigious quantity of vermin engendered in
,e in beautifill them at this season is beyond belief. Tlle
orest trees : tlit' villages are built high up in the mountains,
1 covered wit11 and a few only of the men come down into the
?ather, and 111~' valleys, where they reside in sheds, to look
wit11 the scc~lt after their rice and sugar plantations, and to pro-
n. fit by the travellers who pass during the favour-
lie high Inouli- able months. On the sides and crests of the
nging g~rd'd~llb ~nountains,wheat and barley are partially cul-
falls a stre:ull, tivated; but so little do the people use the
to the level of' former grain, that i t is a saying among other
vely upon tllc* IJersians, " An unruly Mazenderaun boy threat-
these ridges is ens Iiis mother, that if his wish be ilot complied
le people, awl with, he will go into Irhk and eat bread."
lrt. A We travelled about twenty-four miles east,
grown in IJo, tlirough a forest, from S h i to AshrufF, where
le provi~~co is we spcnt a day alrioilg the still ~nagrlificer~t
I /

I:
:',
ruins of Shall Abbas's palace. Hence we T
looked across a thick forest to the Caspian 1
. ,
9

i. sea, which tve first distinguished from the sky, 1

,
n
r;
. .
i
. . - by noticing a little sloop that was sailing past, :
outside a long tongue of land which forms a 1

sort of bay in the south-east corner of t,llis

it
&a. Hence we travelled still east to Astralsad, 1, 1

which we reached on the 21st of April, ,and fi

took up our lodgings in the merchant's casavAn-

i sera. Astrabad is a moderate-sized town of no
strength, situated close under the richly-wooded
mountains of Elborz. I t is chiefly inhabited
b y C~~jjers,"and, being a frontier town, is go-
verned by a prince of the blood royal. Ten '

miles north of Astrabad is the river Goorgaun,

on the fertile banks of which are seated Toorlc-
muns, wlio are nominally tributary to the Shah
of Persia, but they pay so little respect to his
Majesty's authority, that they catch and sell
his Persian subjects when they can, and the
two people are continually upon the watch !
against each other.
W e lost no time in presenting the Guebre
merchant's letters to three traders of the town,
named Hossein Ko~zliAga, Hajee Motallib, and '

A g a Mohummud Tuclcy, his son ; they were ,

1 1;; ) " Those of the tribe from which the present Shall of
 H e l ~ c ew c very civil, begged us to consider all that they
the Caspiar> had as our own, and to be sure that they
from the s l c y , would satisfactorily arrange all our affairs.
s s a i l i n g past, Some of the Astrabadees, who trade constantly
rhich forms n with the Toorkmuns, are known to and go
:orner of this freely among them. Hosseiil Icouli Aga was
t to Astrabad, one of these, and when we signified our wish il

of April, . a n d to go t o Ichiva, he said that he would enable

ian t 's caravan - us t o get there safely; he accordingly sent to
d town of 110 Goorgaun for a Toorkmun friend of his, named
richly-woodecl Orauz ICouli, who assured us that he would
?fly i n h a b i t e d provide a trusty guide for us. We were just
town, is go- in time, he said, for that several persons were
1 royal. - T e l r assembling a t Goorgauli for the purpose of
.er Goorga~tn, travelling to Khiva together, and that he would
seated Toorlcr- hire camels for us, and arrange so that we
'y to the Shall might accompany them.
:espect to his a

atch and sell

can, and t h e
In t h e w a t c l l

the Gucbrc
of the t o w n .
Motallib, a n c f
n ; they w e r e
present Shall ok'
1 Assun~edC1iaracter.-Quit Asti+abad.-Rema1-kable Super-
-
stition. -l'oorlcmun Tents. -Toorlmlnn Hospitality.
l'alnily of our I-1ost.-Mr. Praseis.

TITINICING it necessary to have a pretence for

our journey to Ichiva, I assumed the cliarac-
ter of n inerchant: the Syud was to call him-
self my partnel; and, at our frieads' s~~ggestion
I we purchascd, for the Kliiva marliet, red silk
scarfs, Icerman shawls, furs, and some large bags
of pepper, ginger, and otlier spices. For our
own use on the road, we provided some rice and
a small bag of raisins, tea and sugar, and a
bottle of vinegat; and our friends most kindly
sent us a large supply of biscuit, prepared in
their own " anderoons." ++
011the 24th, Orauz In'ouli Toorkmurl came

* Inner or women's apnrtrneni;~.

 QUIT ASTILABAD. 29
into Astrabad to report that a caravan was
about to start to IChiva, so, wit11 our two Per-
sian friends, we accompanied him that after-
noon on his return to Goorgau~~.W e had
difficulty in persuading our muleteer to take
our baggage out, for, though an old man of
seventy, h e feared lest the Toorkmuns should
R 111. t a l e a fancy to him ; and a Persian lad, our
servant, seemed to think that they would eat
mbad.-Remarltable Super- him. O u r other servant, howevel; Meshed-ec
- Toorltn~111-1 Hospitality. - Norooz, who spolie Toorkish, agreed to take
SCI'.
his chance with us, and he assumed tbe alias
t o have a nretence for of Abdoollall, as better sounding in Soonnee
; assumed t h e cl~arac- ears.
3yud was t o call him- A s we were riding out of the town, we met
a Cujjei*fi-iend, who, in taking leave, whispered
3ur fi-iends' s u g g e s t i o n
in my eal; " I don't like those dogs you're
Lhiva market, r e d silk
going amongst; give me a word by which I
rs, and some large bags
inay k ~ l o wthat you have safely reached IChiva."
kher spices. F o r our
Tlli~~l<ing that the Khan tvas merely affecting
~rovidedsome rice a~icl
a particular interest in our welfare, and pretty
tea and s u g a r , and a
sure of not shoclcing his ears, I said iu joke,
lr friends most kindly
" Shmnb;" and receiving his adieus in a puff
~f biscuit, p r e p a ~ e din
of tobacco (the last of a calleoon which had
gone round in the place of a stirrup-cup), we
:ouli T o a r k m u l l came rode from the gate.
I's apmtments. The commencement of our jourl~ey was
 Il.I:i\.IAItKABLE SUPEI1STLTION.

marked by a very prosperous omen-a snake

Aga dismounted, and cut it in two with his

sword. EIe then, with a fervent BismiUah,*
threw one-half on either side of the road, and
such a happy effect had the feat upon his
spirits, that, on remounting, he dashed off a t
full speed, flourishing his sw,ord and sho.uting,
and did not .rejoin us until both he and his
steed were out of breath. Moob?.ich u~t,"
said the rest, " it is propitious ; ride on under
God's protectibn ; no fear for your journey
now, the eneiny has been killed." I could
obtain no other account of this remarkable
superstition than that i t probably was as old -.
as the dgys of " Huzrut Adain :" a11 instailce
of it is related in the life of Agsl Mohumlnud
Khan, Cujjel; who when, at the death of Her-
reem Khan Zund, he fled up from S1lk.a~to
this very Astrabad, 1;ad the good fortune to
b e crossed by a snake, which he lrillecl with his
own hand, and infused much confidence into
the minds of the party which had collected

Pour miles of our road from Astrabad were

'* I n the name of tlie Lord.
 TOORIiFtIUN TENTS. 31

riel, -a snake through an open wood, in which there was a

vast lake," and our path lay for the-most part
~ ~ ~ s Kouli e i n
two w i t h his over the heads of many strong dams, yaised to
,t =ismillah,* divide the water, so that portions .of it might
the road, a n d be drawn off at pleasure for rice grounds.
u p o n his Then we rode for six miles across a very rich
dashed offa t meadow to the river Goorgaun. The grass in
and s h o u t i ~ g , some places grew so luxuriantly that at a
;11 lie and his distance we mistook i t for grain. The Toork-
l

Moobric& u,rt," mun tents, in camps of from sixty to eighty

r i d e on under fami'lies, were thickly dotted over it ; troops
yorzr- journey of mares and foals, herds of oxen and camels,
?d-" I could and numerous flocks of sheep and goats, were
ranging i11 all directions to choose their pasture,
ly w a s as oIci - . watched here and there by a dog or a ragged
:" a n i n s t a n c e Tartar child ; and when at evening they all
a Blohurnmud came into their camps, we were at a loss
d e a t h of ICcr- whether to be most struck with the beauty
or the wildness of the scene. Orauz I<ouli's
od fortune to tent was one of twenty-eiglit, pitched about
rill ed w i t h his a stone's throw from the river : at the door of
it we were welcomed by his wife, who hastened
* This lake has been erroneously laid down in some maps
the t l - ~ r o n eof as a gulf of the Caspian. I t extends, I believe, from n
point three miles north-east of Astrabad to within as many
miles of the sea. The water, being confined, stagnates in
summer, and the inhabitants of Astrabad suffer from the
malaria that is caused by it.
to set before us bread and bowls of rice inilk. fezmnlc
A tent was allotted to us and our Persian with
friends : wc spcnt some hours of tlle night in as SPC
listei~ingto t l ~ e i rwild stories abont the wars the fi
of the Persians slid Tartars, and the feats of peszrer
both parties; and then, spreading orlr beds ellose
~ l p o nthe ground, we put our feet to the em- s o to
bers, and slept soundly till inoraing. taugl-
25th.-This day was passed in finishing n think
few letters, and in rnakillg amangeinents for TI1
our journey to Ilhiva. Our host introduced and t
us t o one cC Peerwulle, brother t o BAbek, and slavcs
son to Daoudi," who, for 22 tomauns, engrnged Tarta-
to furllish us with four cmnels to carry our- into 1
selves and our inercl~andise to IThivn, and
either himself to guide us thither, or to bring I a gUE
the c
us safely back (God willing). Tl~esewerc the 1 Kern;
terms of the agreement, and as a11 dec1:u~cd
Peerwullee to be a very worthy person, we felt 5 betw
on tk
perfectly satisfied. T h e tent was crowded
drzriilg the wllole of the day, for a slleep liad
beell killed in honour of our visit, and the
incomers busied tl~einselvesin roastillg kabobs
on ramrods. The women too passed freely in
and out to see the strangers, and did not con- have
ceal their faces : they mere not very beautiful, tribe
but i t was a pleasure to look upon them after wit71
having so long been debarred the sight of
.\I.ITY. FAMILY 01;O U HOST.
~ 33

,lvls =-ice113ill~. female countenances. I was particularly struck

nlld o ~ P ~ ~ ?sl l s i a l l with the softness of the Toorkish language,
s of t h e night ill as spoke11 by tliese people; so much so, that
s nl,or~t;t l ~ e wars the first persons whoin I heard spealc it ap-
; ~ l ( lthe feats of peared to me to lisp. The manner also of
ea(ling 0"' beds those who visited us was so frank, and kind,
t o the em- so totally different from wl~atwe hacl bcen
rnling. taught to expect, that we were indined to
etl i l l finishing a thiilk them a mucll belied people.
:,,,,gel-ne~~ts for T h e family of our host coi~sistedof one wife
llOst ~ r x t l - o Ld I ced and two children; and he was inaster of two
to l 3 C ~ b e l c , and slaves, an old ilegro woman and a ICalinnck
:t,lll;l~~~s:, engaged Tartar girl. The latter had just been sold
1 ~ ~ to1 s cni-1-y o u r - into his hands by a young Ifllivian, who was
to LCfliva, ad a guest in the tent, waiting the departure of
litl~cr, 01- to b ~ - i n g the caravin t o return to his home. Orauz
Tllese tve1.e t h e Kellije being introduced to us, took our hands
11 as all declsts.ed between his own, and prolnised to serve us
liy p c t - s o ~ x , we felt on the road, and to show us lcindness when we
~ut, w;ts cl-owd e d should reach IChiva.
., fi)r a sheep h a d Before proceeding further with the accouilt
bur v i s i t , a11d t h e of our jouri~evinto the desert, it may be well
n r o n s t i ~l i~a b~ o b s to describe the people who inhabit it : the
IO p a s s e d freely i n pages of Pallas, Aloravieff, and MeyendorK
: ~ n ddid not c o n - have f ~ ~ r n i s h einformation
d about the northerly
.ot v e r y b C ~ L tI i f u l , tribes, and Mr. Fraser has been beforehand
. upon, t l x e m a f t e r wit11 me in treating of the Toorkmuns in
rcrl t h e sight of advance of the Persian frontier ; but as my
VOL, I. D
 MR. PRASER

information was collected without reference

to the above authorities, and as it is con-
nected wit11 my narrative, I state it as I ob-
tained it ; happy when it agrees with that
detailed by Mr. Praser, to the great accuracy
of whose stateinelits regarding P(;horassaul~,I
am able in many cases to bear witness.
1;.
i.

1,.

1
F
j'

g.
)

.'..

1.
I

i
t-
iI,
r

1.:
r:

,
t ..
1
b. :
 7

TRIBES O F TIIE DESERT. 35

)ut reference .
as it is con-
.e it as I ob.
!es with that
r e a t accuracy
hhorassann, I
ness. CEIAFrI'EHE IV.

Tribes of the Desert. --The Gfiklnns. - The T e l h h s and

Scrruxees.-l'hc 'l'oorl<mun Tri11cs.-Genealogical Trce.
-Yi11ioot Genealogy. - I-Ialti~~g-Stations. - Settlers and
Itovcrs. - 1tivt.r Goorpun. - Goorgaun and Astrnbail
Yi~lloots.-Galling Ncigllbours. -Devecllee Pimoots. -
Distant View of Asirabatl.--Thc Soolli~ecsant1 Sheahs.

'~CIIE Noilladc people inhabiting the desert

~ v h i dstretches i~ortliand east from tlie Cas-
pirui 8ea ace divided illto scparate tribes, ai~cl
rove over their several portions of the steppe,
Inany of them at variance with each other.
Tllc Toorltinuns are first met wit11 on the
1-iver Goorgaun. They range north till they
meet tlie hralian tribes and the Iiirghiz, and
I will talcc the Oxus, on the east, as thc boun-
dary of those tribes whoin illy 11arrative con-
cerlls.
The large tribe of Y i~nootoccupy tlie banlts
of the Goorgauil river, fifty miles east from
the sea to a brook tributary to the Goor@un,
called ICara-soo, or l~lack-water; and they ex-
D 2
tend up tlie right coast of the Caspiail to above
Balkan Bay, when, meeting the sinall tribe of
Attall, they turn, and range the desert east
t o near IIlhiva.
The Gbklails are a smaller tribe : a few miles
of neutral ground are left on Goorgaun be-
tween them and their enemies, the Yiinoots,
and they then possess the banks'of the river
for about ninety miles, till they meet the
ICoords, who were removed from the Turkish
frontier to the border of Persian Igborassaun,
by S l ~ a hdbbas, that they might be between
11is people and the Toorkmuns. The GBklans
do not range more at furtl~estthan forty miles
north ; greatly inferior to the Yimoots, and to
the strong tribe of Telrkah, who are both at
cnmity with them, they are obliged to keep
back upon Persian IChorassaun, and may be
considered as subservient to the Shah.* Living
more settled than other tribes, and having fine
lands, they einploy themselves much in agri-
culture, and they possess large herds and flocks.
The Tekkahs range from i~orthof the Gbk-
'The Shah rebins three or four hundred Toorkmuns at
Teliraun, half troops, half hostages. The majority of these
are G6klnns, the rest Yilnoots from the neighbourhood of
Astrabad. They bring their families with them, and are
relieved every year or so.
 TIlE TBKIiAI-IS A N D SERRUXEES. 97
%@
'
spiail to a l ~ of
o lans up to IChiva, and beyond Merve Shah
small tribfi Jellan they are found upon the bank of the
,he desert I/,@St Oxus. They are the most warlike and power-
f~11tribe, and they render feudal allegiailce
le : a few rO
iles to the I<han of IZhiva.*
Goorgauil Below Merve are found several slnall clans,
, the YiinO 0 t h chiefly branching froin the tribe of Saulour.
rs'of the They are better known by the name of Ser-
they meet %be ruxees, from the circumstance of their being
vish
11x1 the T U T ~ thickly seated about Serrux. These clans form
an I<horas$& .111n, a confederacy, and occasionally take a part ill
aht. he bet, Q ~ C I I the quarrels of the Persian I<horassaun chief-
tains: they liold the fort of Serrux, a i d keep
tlie road eastward from Meshed to Bulkh.
Near Sennx they c ~ ~ l t i v agrain
t e for their own
ivho are botl' at use, and are said to be rich i n cattle, ~vhichthey
obliged to keep drive into thc desert when threatened with
n, and m a y be attack.
Shah.* 1,ivillg The Toorltmuns reside under tents the year
and having fine round ; i n ~ dthey rove the desert in parties pro-
much in :tgri- portioned to its fertility in different parts.
herds and flocks. Every great tribe is divided and subdivided
~ r t hof the CGOli-
" The Khan of Khiva, we leariled, llas twelve thousand
ndred T o o r k n ~ i l x ~ at
s Toorlrmull horse in reguk~rpay. They receive each 20
rhe majority trl' ~ l l c s e tillas (131.) yearly, attd pay their own expenses. They are,
he neighbourl~o,,~lof for the most part, Tekkahs, the rest are from the Yintoot
with them, ; l l a r l :lrc clans seated ncar to IChiva. Besides these, tlie Khan can
raise $0,000 feudal liorse on emergency.
 T I ~ EToORI~XIUN TlllliES.

into smaller clans, which, retaining the corn-

nlon name, have encl~ a dis ting uishirlg one,
that generally of a patriarch rvho went out
fiom a large society to head a smaller one. The I

followi~lg Y i ~ n o o t genealogical tree, though

imperfect, will afford a n idea of t h e order of
their societies. I,
'' Yin~oot,)' (says my inforn~ation,)who was
the soil of Arshi, the soil of Saulour Kaztin,
had four sons, Chooni, Sherruff, Cowjuck Tar-
tars, and Bairnm Shalli.
iI
i
Only of the two first have we full accounts.

I -The descendants of t h e Cowjuck Tartars are I

I
not many, and the Bairam Shallis are still less
aulnerous : the latter are seated towards Khiva, I
tmd, therefore, perllaps less was known about 1

them by those who gave us information. T h e I

space of twelve f~~rsulths, .cvhich is between the
t
I
C!II

I
Yilnoot bouildary of Ilara-soo and the sea, may b
L
be loosely divided into three tracts : the most
easterly one is occupicd b y the Cowjuck Tartars; I
I

the Chool~is (3,000 tents) are found i n t h e

middle one; and the Slierruffs (4,500 tents) i
ial~abitthe third, t o the coast of the sea. T h e
boundary line on the l ~ o r t hof these three great
I i
I
divisions may be imagined to cross the desert a t I

I
the parallel latitucle of Ballran bay.
 GENEALOGICAL TLLEE. 39
YIhIOOT.
r Sheer Mol~ummud-lee,
or loo, (a gnritiue)
GOOZ &Iol~~i~iiniod-lee.
I<ooclr nIol~ummud-lee.
ICllojcsh-lee.
ICuzzilgeh.
[l\llh, I... .. ..j Uoi-lur.

I
l~ozcem, .... ..
I-Iubbeeb-lee.
Sukkauvee,
Goog.
So01t.

I
Oodamis11-lee,
Taunel~.
Iiusliltulkur.
I i l ~ ~ u n u ~ n - I c e Iiusseli.
,
Doogooncllec.
Asl~oor-goo&.
ICara-zaortic.
Ohb01, .. ,. .. Sunnah.

Auli Sultkaulec, Yhnlpee.

Serjelli'.

I
Tummick.
IIlolrumrnud Allee-lnok.
Nuzzur I<ouli.
I Yesl~manliouli.
Kussick.
Hussan Moollal~.
Beg-lur.
Dam, ...... 1 Allee Icouli.

No info~n~atiou
about their descenda~~ts.
ICouchcck, ....
.. ...
I Eimur, , Eernmnnee, Auk 31ooslim, I<ara Rlooslim.
(Degrees of propinquity not ascertaincd.)

I
a I f
'1
Iiunzil-jur, Pusl~~nuclc,~ l l l c e Yar-lee,
I~ulla,cee.Is~,an<lur-leo.
(Degrees of ~,iopinquityno1 ascc~tainetl.)
 EIALTING-STATIONS. 41
Now all these clans have their understood
ranges.* Within each range are many halting
stations, (places where forage is most plentif~ll,)
and they march from one to another as the herb-
age becomes exhausted, not staying more (with
the exception of winter, when snow is on the
ground) than from six to ten days at each.
... - - 1
ia"~-.
't,. At some stations there are -pools, which retain
the winter and spring rains ; at others, there
are wells, the sides of which are strengthened
by thick wattle frames.
The Toorkmuns are classed under the heads
of Charwar and Choomoor, that is, rovers and
settlers, and the first are considered to be in the
proportion of three to one of the last. The
terms are not arbitrary, for many become set-

very difficult for one not bred among the Toorkmuns to trace their pedigrees:
i t appears from the names of the branches said to come from the DEvecllees ;
that they do not confine Il~emselvesto patronymics, and probably any re-
markable circumstarlce happening to a man, frequently gives him al
agnontea which descends to his issue. Hossein Iiouli Aga told me that
tile clan of the Cujjers, to which 11e belonged, I<uzzilAiyang, took its name,
from the following incident : I n former years, the Cujjers were " chader
nislieen," 01. abiders in the tents, and they inhabited a part of the desert
beyond Astrabad, now occul]ied by the Yimoots. The head of this clan
coming into Astrabad to see a friend, was taken to the batli, and his host
paid him the compliment of giving him a smart dress, and of dying his feet
with henna. When h e leturned to his brethren in the desert, they were
struck with his appearance, and gave him the name of Iiuzzil Aiyang, vaed
or gold foot.
othms the samc) wcrc ric,,
* Some of the tribes ally themselves with each other, and have common
ranges. Pasturage being vcry scanty, they are articular in preventing
L l e r n a i n c d somu Y F : ~ L ( :+ ,*
cncroacl~mcntsupon their limits, and havc liequcnt cluanels on this scorc.
sons' sons, wcr11 O L , l r 1, i
 ,'? ,d >,?J w,
%#J:(,*,$L$:!&:

42 SEl"&EltS AND ILOVEItS.

tlers for a while, and then return i;o the clesert

again; but there is a great difference in the
inode of life of the two.
The settlers (I describe those near Astrabad),
wllo seldom clrange their need but few
camels, they occupy tl~einselvesin pasturing
large herds and flocks, from - t h e produce of
which they reap a good profit.% They also
have fotvls, and they cultivate much grain on
tlie banks of the Goorgaun.
The rovers, on the contrary, chiefly estimate
their wealth by the number of camels they
possess: they have floclcs of sheep and goats,
but no oxei~,neither have they any fowls: a
few dogs are kept to watch their flocks, b~ztwe
did not even see a cat among them.
Both Charwars and Chooinoors breed horses :.
preference is given to tl~osereared in the desert,
as beiiig most hardy. Soine of these animals
iise to the height of sixteen hands; they are
remarlcable for bone and sinew, but they have
very long backs, and large coarse heads : these

* I t was said among the Yimoots on Goorgaun, that one

man, the wealthiest among them, possessed seven hundred
camels, five thousand sheep and goats, and two hundred
mares ; to wit, several necltsf~~l
of money. The Toorkrnuns
lteep thcir money and little valuable etccterns in l.nl.ge
purses mnile of the skills of camels' necks.
Im to t l ~ eclescrt characteristics, however, aye ameliorated by a
iifferencc ill the mixture of Arab blood. T h e wealtlliest Toorlc-
lnuns possess Arab stallions and mares, and the

d,
near Astrabnil),
need b u t few
Ies in pasturirlg
produce of the two castes is very good.
The rovers and settlers both share in the
c~~ltivated lands on G o o r p u n ; parties of the
ithe produce of Yimoots from as far as Balkam coining in a t
t . T h e y nlso
T ~JIUCII grain on
sowing and reaping seasons. Part of their
produce of wheat and barley is exchangcd with
the Persians for Mazenc1e;raun rice. The ro-
1 chiefly estimate vers take with them only grain sufficient for
of camels they t w o months' consumption ; the overplus they
.ieep and goats, sell at Astrabsd, and come i11 from t h e desert
:y any fowls : a and re-purcllsse as they require it. They are
r floclrs, but wc losers by this arrangement, but they canrlot
well carry mucll with thew] on their marches,
lrs breed horses : and on the whole they calculate t o obtain
Iled in the desert, the supply that they yearly require for the
)f these anim:ds labour of cultivating about twice as rnucll.
Fands ; they a r c The river Goorgaun measures about sixty
;but t h e y have yards from bank to bank : its bed is deep, and
'se heads : these in spring, when the snows of the Elborz melt,
there is much water in i t ; but in sumliler
Goorgaun, that orlc (except when occasionally swelled by the rains
ssed seven hunilred which the mountains attract,) it is shallow.
I, and two liu~~tlrcd
y. The Toork~uuus
The water, though not clear, is sweet, and very
etcetcras in ]urge drinkable wllcn its mud llas been allowed to
(S. settle. The Tporlmuns swear by it. Nothing
 44 GOOIlGhUN AND ASTRABAD YINOOTS.

can exceed the richness of the land through

which this river flows. About three miles'
breadth, on either side of it, is cultivated tvitli
the finest wheat and barley: the ground is
turned up with a wooden share, to which is
yoked a horse, bullock, or carnel, and it is said
to give an increase of from seventy to one
hundred fold.
For the privileges of p a s t ~ ~ rand
e cultivation
the Goorgaun Yirnoots affect allegiance t o the
I Shah of Persia, and their brethren as far as
\
I Balkan, being dependent upon this quarter for
their supplies, also call tllk~selvesAstrabad
Yiinoots :* but they are very independent
liegemen, pay tllcir slight tribute only when
it suits them, and carry off their fellow subjects
the Persians whenever they can catch them.
An Astrilbadee dares not go to Goorgaua
without the safeguard of a Toorkmun, neither
do the Toorkmuns venture to Astrabad un-
guaranteed. TheCujjur prince hardlyaffectcci
to have much control over t h e ~ n; and, indeed,
he had, a sliol-t time before our arrival, been
taught liow lightly his authority was regtrded,
* Twelve tllousand tents were on the roll of thc Astrabad
Governor, and each tent was rated to pay rollr Persian reale,
bul this must have bccn a flouris11 of the Mcerzn in oliargc-
oE ~ l l erecorcls, or ulse copied li.oin a very old census.
 GALL1NC NETGHBOURS. 45
for, going to Goorgaun to honour witla his
presence tlae wedding of his Meer Alror's bro-
ther, an old Toorkmun rated him soundly be-
fore the assembled guests, and carried off one
of his suite, as they were returning to Astrabad,
to balance a wrong which he conceived the
prince had done to a party connected with him.
The Toorkmuns have p~ovedthemselves such
galling neighbours as enemies, that the Per-
sians are glad to kcep any terms with them :
still this state of affairs arises entirely from the
ins~lfficiency of the Shah's government ; for
though a few families may strike their tents
and retirc into the desert at will, the bulk of
the Yimoots, even if they could obtain the
necessaries of life elsewhere, could not afford to
abandon the lands 011 Goorgaun by which they
profit so largely ; and, under a proper govern-
ment, they might not only be brought to re-
spect the persons of his Majesty's natural sub-
jects, but themselves become profitable inein-
bers of the state. A t present these Yimoots
will appeal to the Astrabad EIriltim, if they
find themselves the weakest party in a dispute
with the Persians, as the following incident
will show. ICutool is one of nine beloolrs in
the province of Astrabad : it is on the Khoras-
saun side, and its inhabitants render a vciy
46 UEVECIIEE YIMOOTS.

imperfect allegiance to the Shah. Their chief

clluppaoed a clan of Dkvechee simoots, and
took inany sheep. The Devechees deeming it
incspedient to cross the border, recollected that
they were Persian subjects, and petitioned the
Shahzadeli, who, " Daniel-like," recommended
them to retaliate. They tried his receipt, but
could only kill two inen and capture three
others ; however, they met a party of Astra-
bad Persians who had gone o~ztto try some
llorses, and, attacking the??z, killed one man, (a
C ~ ~ j jIChan,)
er and carried off the rest. It was
now the Persians' t~zrn,and they laid an em-
bargo upon scveral Toork~~luns who unsuspi-
ciously came to the town. The difference was
ul~izcljustecl when wc quitted Astrabad, the
parties not being able to agree about the com-
parative value of tlieir prisoners, and thc ICu-
toollees refusing to restore the slieep they had
taken.
All our arrangements for the journey being
completed, it was determined that we should
sct out the next day for the river Attruk, to
join the caravan said to be assernblii~gon its
b ~ n k . Every thing looked well for our jour-
ney; Rossein ICouli Aga answered for Orauz
Kouli, and Oraux Igouli for Peerwullee, and
we co~zld not help congratulating ourselves
>. DISTANT VIE\\' OF PSTRAUAD. 47 -
1. T h e i r chief up011 having fouild such friends, and on having
Yirnoots, nr1~1 come arnong them at such good season. We
:CR deeming it had endeavoured to sell our horses a t Astrabad,
vxollected that but, not succeeding, we reserved them as pre-
petitioned t h e sents to our Persian friends. I-Iossein Ilouli
recommended Aga accepted my horse and furniture complete,
is receipt, b11t and in return gave me much of t l ~ a t cheap
c a p t u r e till-ec commodity-good advice. I was too generous,
a r t y of A s t m - he said, and among the people we were going
; to t r y so111c to visit, I must carefully guard against the ill-
l i i o n e man, (a dulgence of a liberal feeling.
2 rest. It 'c'cT;is T h e view south from hence was very bcau-
y laid a n eln- tiful. Far across the meadow on a rising
xvllo unsrlspi- ground, was the town of Astrabacl, faintly
difYe1-ence ~ v a s marked out in all its angles like a, fortification
Astrabad, the on a map, and at the back of ,it rose to a great
) o u t the c o l l z - height the richly wooded Elbore mo~zntains.
a n d the 3(1t- W e lay on tlze grass at sunset enjoying this
l i e e p they I3:ld scene, while the Syud was going through the
Sooilnee forms of prayer wit11 much osten-
j o u r n e y being tation. '<You are a Mooselrnaiiil then," sdcl a
int we s l l o 1 1 1 c I Toorkmun to him (for Soonnees will not allow
cr A t t r r ~ l c - , t r , Sheahs the name). Alhu~l~doolillah," I thank
1 i 1 on its God, was the rel~ly. " Hei ICaufir !" muttered
for o u r .j onr- the Persian a t my side: then turning to me,
qecl f o r Cdr;ttax he said wit11 much earnestness, " YOUhave a
er w uTlee, rtr I CZ treasure in that Syud, for God is witness tlmt
4s TIIE SOONNEES AND SFIBAI-IS.

veriest dog anlong tliein." M y friend, how.

evel; kept his disgust to himself when near
Toorkrnuns, for whose creed he hinted much .
toleration, if not a considerable penchant ; such
hypocrisy does their religious system enjoin.
The Soonaee, or (as they call themselves)
the ortl~odoxMohummudans, reverence Abu 1
Bulcr, Omar, and Oosman, the three men who 1
were successively made Caliphs after t11e death
of the great impostor. The Sheahs protest
against these, as being merely men raised by 1
the caprice of tlle people to a sacred office whicll !
was the right of Allee, the prophet's son-in-law,
and in the excess of their zeal, they look upoil
the first three caliphs as usurpers, and impre.
cate curses upon tl~ein. cc May God curse Abu 1!
Bukr, Omar, and Oosmai~,and shed his peace
?
upoil the blessed Allee ! is the form of speech :
coinmonly used," said a reverend Sheall to ine ; I

" but there is no strict injuilction to use wo~cls .

of cursing, so long as a man holcls them ac-
cursed in his heart. The names of the original
caliplis are coinino~ily introduced illto the
phrases of gross abuse which the Persians deal t

so largely in : '"fay the face of the father and

the father's father of yozv O n ~ wbe defiled,"
 A Present to our Hostess.-Ford the Goorpun.-Proceed
on our Joui.ney.-Ford the Attruck.-Toorlcsmuns' Tea-
party-Ruined City.-Yimoot Tents.-Abstinence of a
1lorse.-ToorIrish Expeditions. - Toorliish Forays. -
Attack upon Pilgrims. - Quit the Eelghi Camp.-Ac-
cused as a Spy--Deserted River-bed.--Branch of t:he
Osus. -A Repast. -Aujeree and Ballcan Hills.-The
1Mil.age.--Bal.ren Plain. -Halting-place. - Accuracy of

shawl. Sbe accepted them with many smiles;

and, wheri she had feasted her own eyes up011
them, and excited the envy of her female
friends, she enquired of Hossein ICouli Aga the
cost of the scarf, and at his valuatioi~made it
l over to Orauz Kellije, in part payment for the
 FORD TIIE GOORGAUN. 61
HEalmucli girl. This colnpromise with scru-
plcs that we had hcard so imucll about sur-
prised us, but it seemed to be a matter of
course. The lnciy dismissed us wit11 <' Kllosl-,
Gelclin ! Allah Yhrin !" c c You are welcome!
God be with yon !" and her brother, in repeat-
ing d ~ e s eexpressions, added, << May you coine
again ! may you come often !"
TVe forded t h e Goorgaun where the water
,ofgaun.-~a-r,c!~cd was not up t o our saddle-girths, and rode two
T o o r l t s m u ~ ~ s're.?-
' miles beyond to a large oubeh," where we were
- d b s t i ~ ~ e n c cof;' introduced t o Odekka, the father of our host.
orltisll For:ry.s. ---
,Ighi Camp. ---- ;I C- Here P c e r w ~ ~ l l cjoined
e us with three camels ;
!.--Branch of t 1 1 ~ the fourth, lle said, he would get from tlie
albnn Hills.-'f he
caravan at the Attruk Piver. One camel car-
-
:c. A c c u r a c , ~t i f
ried a pair of kajavahs (open cribs slung loosely
on a camel's sides, Zilte panniers), in which t l ~ e
k ill the 1mor31- Syud and I stowed our bedding, and sat or lay
:11t. It ~ ~ ? O l l l ~ l upon it. On the other two beasts our mer-
3 h a v e of-I-'c*~-ed chandise was laden, and hfeshed-e-Noronz,
, b u t we pre- alias Abdoollal~,found a place for hiinself upon
f a n d a srlioIl the spice bags. At starting, Hoseeii~ ICouli
L I n a n y SIX-I i 1c.s ; Aga placed what little beard Peerwullee had
)w11 e y e s u l ~ o ~ l within the Syud'g hand, t o signify that lie was
>f h e r ferr-)ale bound to servc us. W i t h some difficulty we
[Couli A g r t t11c adjusted our weights on the ltajavalis, and then,
ation rnatle i t bidding adieu t o our Pel-sian and Toorkish
men t for- t l Vamp.
E 2
52 PROCEED ON O U R JOURNnY.
friends, coinlnenced our journey, with mally i

kind wishes shouted after us.

Peerwullee led the march on foot, and Orauz
Kellije, inoullted on his own horse, made angles
I
i
1
i
wit11 all elevated bits of land, to look out, he
I
said, for GBklans, who occasionally rode far
from their stations to surprise the Yimoots.
I l e was armed w i t h a sword aild a light spear
twelve feet long. PeerwuUee had two of the
strangest looking weapons imaginable ; a pistol,
with a blunderbuss mouth and a stock like
that of an English gun, and about two-thirds
of a gml-barrel monnted on a Persian stock:
however, he seemed t o think birnself very well
armed, and when we halted always made a
show of examining the state of his locks.
W e tool. a northerly direction, and, after six
miles, losing the meadow land, we entered
upon a dry light soil, where, save here and there
patclles of good grass, grew (3nly small thorns
i
and weedy bushes. w e halted a t evening -
I
from five till e i ~ h t .and n great relief was
this respite from the distressing moti'on of the
kajavahs. These cribs were b u t four feet by
two, and when we had coatrived to dispose of
our bodies in this small space so as not to. be in
tortul-e, o w skill was needed to pre-
serve the centre of gravity ; for t h e kajavabs
i
 OIJRNEY-
FORD THE ATTRUK. 53
mey, wit11 m"'lY
were only looseljr slung over the camel's baclr,
b
and the very act of rising to draw a cramped
In foot, z a x ~ d0 r a u z
leg from under one might have sufficed to
lorse, m a d e a n g l e s
destroy the balaace. The motion had the
I, to 1ool-C out,
effect of giving me a severe headache, which I
tsionally rode far
should have minded more had I not been kept
rise the ~ i m o o t s .
in laughter at the alarm of my friend in the
aail a Light spear
other palmier. We were frequently obliged to
lc llad two of t h e
spring up and clutcll each other, as one or
nginable ; p i s t o l ,
other crib leaned over; and he took infinite
and n stock l i k e
pains t o show how, by my giving too much of
. about t w o - t h i r d s
my weight to one side, he might be made to
a 13crsia,rl stock:
fly over my head and break his bones. A t
l~ilnselfv e r y well
eight o'cloclr we contimed our march for two
3 a l w a y s nqade a
hours and a half, and then halted till four in
)f liis l o c l c s -
the morning.
.ion, and, after six
27th.-At half past five forded the Attruk,
and, w e e n t e r e d
distant by our computation about twenty-seven
we liere and t11el.e
miles and a half from Goorgaun. Orauz Hellije
only small t h o r n s
ws~llredahead to feel the way for the camels,
alted at e v e n i n g
and the water was u p to the middle of his
great relief was
thigh. This river is a third less broad than
ing i n o t i i i n of the
tlie Goorgaun: in spring its banks are over-
but f o u r feet by
flowed, and the Toorkinuns sow melon and
ived to dispose of
jowgans seed in the alluvial soil. The water
SO as 1 1 0 t t o be in
was so muddy, that we thought we should
vas n e e d e d t o pre-
clirty ourselves by waslling with it ; the
for t h e k a j a v a h s
 Toorkmuns however took it up in their palms,
and drank it with apparent relish. T h e s i g h t
determined me riot to trust l o a ~ o o r k m u l l ' s
account of water.
There was not a tent in view, and contrary
to what we had imagined, we were told that t h e
Yiinoots do not settle themselves on t h e b a n k
of this river, as on the Goorgaun. The soil i s
good, b u t i t is not the rich loan1 of.6oorgaull
which produces sucli excellent pasture. %Ire
halted about an haul; and Peerwullee went u p
the banlc to look for traces of the caravan : .he
decided that i t had gone on, and in the hope of
overtaking i t we marched on without i n t e m i s -
sion all day, our course due north. At five i n
the evenii~g,we halted at a long pool of rain
water: i t was deep enough to bathe in, a11d
our guides said that it did not quite dry up i n
the hottest weather. Here we collected a h e a p
of weedy bushes, and made a sort of fire, at
which we boiled some rice aild tea. The l a t t e r
the Toorkmuns drank with much gusto, a n d
behaved quite like children, aslting for s u g a r
to their tea, and tea to their sugar, till t h e
patience of our steward Abdoollah was ex-
hausted; and they ended by taking each a
lump of sugar and a lnoutllful of tea-leaves to
chew a t leisure. Tlle Oosbegs, who live i r i a
 llUINED CITY. 55
t h e i r p a l r ~ s,
l great measure upon tea, keep the leaves in
vrl-ke sight their mouths t o prevent thirst. The latter
TOo x - k ~ y l x x ~ ~ ' ~ Tartars actually 'slew their tea, with bread,
butter, and salt. A t eight we 1.esuined our
k n d con tl-itl-y march, and kept on a northerly course over
Lolat h a t t - 1 1 ~ a very bare country till four in the morning.
o n t h e bank B8tlz.-Malted one hour, and then marchcd
/ The soil is on. Between nine aild tell we passed between
~ fUZoorgau1l
. two hills (or rather mounds) about seven miles
\stare. *JTc apart, on one of which t11ere appea~edto be
\lee went u p vestiges of buildings, but they werc so wrapped
Lru-avan : I I ~ in vupour that we co~lld distinguisli nothing
t h e h o p e of clearly. These mounds are called ltoostuin-e

Ijut intennis-
A t fsve in
p o o l o f r;ti~l
Zal's* forts. Then our road lay over the re-
mains of a town, once apparently of good ex-
tent, and, as it seemed, systematically laid in
i t h e in, a r ~ c l ruin. Not one stone was upon another to mzrk
I
~ t edry up i r ~ the form of a building, b u t square well-hunlt
Lcted a ileirp bricks lay in detached low mourids over a con-
It of fire, at ,sidesable space. TVe co~rldget no better in-
T h e latter formation from our guides about these ruins
gusto, arlcl than that a long time ago they formed a city :
g for s u g r t r - just a city," as a Scotchmaiz would have said.
gal-, till tho About one we came to twenty-two Eelghi
all w a s ex- Yilnoot tents, and got some camel's clznu2,t the
i n e a c l l &: acid of which was very refreshing in the heat.,
;ea-lenv es t r ~
*Roosturn the son of Zal- the Hercules of Persia11
10 l i v e 111 :t
11istol.y. f Butter-milli.
 YIMOOT TENTS.

The tents were pitched under a broad ridge of

sand hills, about six miles east of the rnins of
a city called Meshed-e Misreaun. Two tall.
minfirs and a mosque were distinguisl~able,
hanging as if in air above a cloud of vaponr,
like Aladdin's palace. TVe got no tidings of
the caravan, and after a few minutes' halt re-

evening, partly in search of water, we halted to

give the camels rest. Luckily we bad water
enough in our musllk* to boil some rice ; at
eight o'clock we marched on, and, after two
hours and a half, halted again till three in the

a camp of twenty-four 0tab01 Yimoot tents,

where they put before us the usual Toorkmnn
fare, boiled rice mixed with sour milk, a very
unpalatable mess to those unused to it. Again,.
about noon, we took refuge from the sun in
one of five tents belonging to the family of a
man who roved apart from his otlaer kindred,
because he had cc much substa~lce."t
W e halted one hour and marched on. There
were other tents at some distance, to which
O r a ~ ~ICouli
z rode on his unwearied horse to
* Water-skin. t Gen. xiii. 6.
 ABSTINENCE OF A HORSE.

road ridge of seek tidings of the caravan : he returned with-

tl~eP U ~ of
~ S out any, but it was agreed that, as we had got
I. Two tall over the most dangerous part i f the road, we
tinguishable, need not concern ollrselves about convoy.
d of v ~ ~ p o ~ z l ; Orauz ICellije's horse excited our astonish -
o t i d i n g s of ment : for two days we saw that he got no
~ t e s 'halt re- water, and fed only upon what 11e could pick
about alnollg up (coarse grass or weeds) as we went along, or
five in t h e when we halted : corn he did not taste a grain
we h a l t e d to of, cc nor should he, please God," said his master,
-e had w a t e r " till be reached home, when he sllould lie down
Dme r i c e ; at
d, after t w o
three in tlxc they .had no foray in view, to allow their horses
entire discretion as to their food. "We tether
w e s t a y e d at them," he said, cc within reach of abundance,.
-.
imoot tellt s, and they know better than to eat too much."
tlToorkll?lln I would rather state the Toorkinuns' own ac-
milk, a v e r y counts of some of their customs than my entire
o it. A g a i n , . belief in them, for some of their stories were only
1 the s u n in just within the bomlds of credibility, though it
:f a m i l y of ;t cannot be doubted that both they and their
her I c i n d r e r l , Ilorses perform astonishing. feats ; and, as they
I are tllemselves as lazy at home as active when
3 on. T h u r e abroad, what- Orauz. Kellije said about their
e, to wlliclr mode of treating horses may be true. The
ied horse t r , Toor11:muns roll a piece of fat round their
snaffles, to keep their horses' mouths inoist 011
53 T0011I<JSII EXPEDITIONS.

a long march. Soine said that they bled their

steeds to relieve thein when tliey were much
fatigued ; and others spoke of drii~kingt l ~ c
blood in case of their being short of water ; but,
as some of the latter, in allusion to their own
great prowess, hinted that they were " inan-
eaters," 1 learned to consider tlie first account
as hyperbolical.
They train their horses for a long march, and
when they are going beyond the plain country
they shoe them, which they do not at other
times. .Their longest expeditions are under-
taken in spring and a u t u r ~ ~ n W
. i t h a bag of
flour and some oil cakes, a few kooroot balls,
and a water-skin for their own use, and a
small bag of barley or jamlarree for their horses,
they set out on a distant foray. Their pace is
alternately a yoortmall (or gentle jog trot)
and a long walk ; every h o n ~or two they halt,
and let their horses graze if there be herbage
(themselves perhaps snatching a few moments'
sleep,) and occasionally they give thcln a hand-
ful of corn. Marclling on thus unceasingly to
the point they have in view, they get over
much ground in a few days, and their horses',
and indeed their OWII, steady endurance of
fatigue is woaderf~d. They have the excite-
ment which atterlds a dangerous service to
 iat they bled their keep up their spirits, and, pretty sure of booty
they were tnuch
1 if they can get witlliil the reach of Persians,
of drinking the tliey forget their fatigues in thinlring of their
lort of water ; but, probable gail~s. I t is a chalice if their enemies
~sionto their own hear any thing of them till they have crossed
they were 66 man- the border, and then they are more lilrely i o
:r the first accour~t get out of the way than to muster to oppose
them. c6 Clzctcun pour soi " is a Fersia~~'s motto,
a long march, a n d and if nil accident befalls his neighbour, h e
I the plain col~nti-y says, It i s his fate." T h e Persians have been
y do not at other so long afraid of these Tartars that they will
ditions are under- Ila~dlymake an effort to defend themselves.
I. W i t h a bag of wo md SET ?tS
66 Oojzhn Zlissenzcr jzcngee I~ustz~ncl,

few kooroot balls, tkcreem," is their apology : '' They are very war-
own use, and n like, and we've no head." I n tlie last three
ree for their horses, words the Persian has shown the cause of all
ray. Their pace is the evils that afflict his countrg7men,- they
- gentle jog trot) liave no head.
r or two they halt, If the foraging party be numerous, they
' there be herbage make for a village, and if they can get within
79 a few moments' it, they slay those who resist, and the aged, and
k
give them a hanci- C:LITY off the strong and bealltifill into slavery :
hus unceasingly to when the walls of a village keep them out,
lw, they get o v e r they content themselves with driving" the
(
'

, and their horses', cattle. A sl~iallerparty waits near a high road

ady endurance of for kafilahs, as on the on* between Shahrood
have the excitc- and Meshed, which is travelled jearly by fiAy
gerous service to or sixty thousand pilgrims. l'lieir custom has
6'0 A'1"l'ACIC UPON PILGRlblS.

been, to post a reserve at a little distance from

the road, to support the advance party in their
retreat, and, upon the strength of the belief
that they always do so, they sometimes push
forward their whole force, and capture a stronger
party than themselves ; for the sight of one
Toorkmun induces a Persian to suppose that
he has a thousand others at his beck ; and the
feeling, if it does not frighten him into an in- .
capacity to defend himself, certainly operates
lo dissaude him from attempting the rescue of
his friends. It is generally in the grey of the
morning that the Toorkmuns wait for the pil-
grims ; when half asleep, after a weary night's
march, they have dispersed for prayers : then,
with a ho ! 110 ! they dart upon tliem, make
haste to cut down a few of the least valuablc
persons, and do not find it very difficult to
drive off the greater part of the rest. A few
of the kafilahs escape at the first onset, and, hast-
ening to the nearest station with the news of
their friends' capture, give perhaps the first in-
timation that the Toorlrmuns are out. << They
coineyYy to use a Persian's own expression, " like
the whirlwind, and are only ltnown by the
traces of their devastation."
Great must be the merriment of these free-
booters when, beyond reach of pursuit, they
 distailce fro*'
p a t y in t h e i r
of t h e belief
metimes ~ 1 1 ~ 1 1
ture a s t r o n g e r
sight of
s u p p o s e t21:tt
w k ; and the
.im into an i l l -
aii~lyoperates
,r the r e s c u e of
ie grey of tllc
,it for the pil-
weary l~igl~t's
prayers : t f i e l l ,
I them, ~nztlie
least val uablc
'y d i f f i c u l t t o
8 rest. A fc\\*
]set, a n d , has t-
1 the news of
IS the first i l l -
out. =' TrJlcS-
~ression, S C like
nown b y tl1c

of t h e s e free-
pursuit, t l ~ c y
 G2 A(:CUSI?D AS A SPY.

upon its back, ancl we insisted upon Peerwullee's she ~1

getting a fourth, pursuant to his el~gagernent. able 1
H e went for the purpose, and was absent ti11 VTl
noon, wllen he rct~lrnedwith the master of o n e 1;hen
of the teats, bringing with him a skin of ltept
chaal, a great treat, for the thermometer r o s e into '

to 9'7" i n the sun, and not a breath of air deep

was stirring. wlla t
F r o m this lnan we purchased a lamb for a very
sahibltor,zn.* Looking hard at my E~lropeanl cent]
complexion, he accused me of being a Russian halte
spy ; and, wheil I affected anger a t the insinua- T1
tion, 11e merely said that it would be well f o r
m e if I was not, but that I had inucli the l o o k
of one. I-Ie confessed, however, that he had
1 abou
that
a I

agair
never met a Eussian, nor did he wish to do, e x - I
i'
cept for the opportunity of cutting his head off t
man:
n11d making kabeubs of it. Froin him P e e r - I near
wullee had talien a camel, for which he was to 3 of w
bring fi-orn Rlliva a mare, an iron cooking-pot, i
and an auftauba (a vessel for holdiiig water,
1 aud I
a brc
in shape something like the one which the then
stork is represented as feeding from, when she of dc
asked t h e fox t o dinner). The mare appears ilulla
a large item ill the exchange, but, as the selec-
tion of her was left to Pecr~wullee's conscience,
* About 1s. 3d.
 DESERTED RIVICTi-BED.

she would probably have been the least V ~ ~ L I -

able article sf the three.
We rnczrched hence N.N.E. for two hours,
then coming to the bank of a dry nullah, we
11 of kept along it till we found a place of descent
~-t~se into the bed. This, after a while, led us into
f air deep ravines, and from them we passed into
what appeared to be the deserted bed of a once
PI*
*i very large river. W e journeyed N.E. up its
I K ~ ~ L " centre for two hours, then a little before sunset
bhim1 halted to prepare a meal.
t t LI:L- T h e Syud and I, parting froin the centre,
1ii~z- wallted each to a bank, and measured jointly
1~I L ~ C a b o ~ a~ thousand
t paces. The soil differed from
Il;lri . that above, having gravel and pebbles, and
, against the right* bank, to whicll I walked,
1 c~f'f Inany large stones were collected, and the earth
*CCE- - ' near i t was coaed up, as if by thc strong force
.LY to of water. The banks, which were very high
.l>c )t, and much worn, would run for some distance a t
a t L*I., a breadth about equal to that we measured;
t f lc: then they would be broken into a succession
of deep parallel ravines, each the size of a
rtb:tl'N 11ullah.
*lc.c:- W e wished to believe ourselves in the bed
1 ic * i * * of the Oxus, and indeed we calculated that we
" l'resaming that tllc river m
u to the Caspian.
 DESERTED 1tIVER-BKD.

1lnd come far enough nortli to meet with the

i i ~ gand long controverted a question might

influence our opinions. That it was the bed
of a very large river was apparent,* though
a t what period deserted, and from what cause,
there wjs little to show. Mortzvieff spealrs
of an earthquake which happened five hun-
dred years ago ; we were told of a great flood
about that t i m e : all agree in saying that at
some such period the face of tlie c o ~ m t r ywas
materially altered, but the Toorlcmuns have no
books, neither have they very positive notions
I about time or events. .
Moravieff, inore than once on his journey to
IClliva, ine t ~ rthi apparently the continuation
of this bed ; and, whatever obscurity rests
U P O ~ the cause or the period of its secession,
there seems n o great reason to doubt, that n
branch of the Oxus formerly flowed west to
t h e Caspian. One of the strongest reasons for
supposing that it did is found in the writings
of Mirlrhooxid, autl~oi. of the Rowzutusuffa,
who, in his account of the descendants of Oguz
Khan, the great Tartar, says, that they spread
* The Toorklnuns call the. bed mnrsrtlle~, the meaning of
the word I lcnow not.
 BRANCH OF THE OXUS.

tl~cinselves not only over Mawara-oon-nuhr,

leet with the
that is, the country on that side of the liver
wer ; but ~ V C
Jilioon whicli bounds Persia 013 the north ;
'
e so interest-
?stion might b u t also to the soutll of that river, and along
was the bed the borde1.s of I<horstssa~~n,a province of IrBi1.
:nt,* tlloug\~ Now, t o bound Persia on t h e north, and t o
1 what cause,
have Rhorassaun on its south, the Jihoos must
avieff speaks have flowed west. Abulgliazi Khan also, in
?d five hmi. his History of the Tartars, speaks of the AIXIOLI,
a great flood as separating icarazrn from IChorassaun, t o tlle
ying tlmat at northward of the latter province ; and in the
country was writings of inany old eastern historians Karazm
iuns have no is treated of as part of MawAra-oon-nuhr.
itive notions Bay friend ttie Syud carried his speculations
much further; for lie not only saw no reason
s journey to why this great bed, which could be traced so
continuati011 far east, should not be admitted to prove the
scuiity rests ancient historian's accounts of the Oxus, but
its secession, 11e was inclined t o think that, if the water of
ioubt, that a one of a river's two arms was turned off (as it
r e d west to is traditioi~althat one stream of the Jihoon was)
it reasons for by human agency, it might by the same rneails
the wri tiilgs be cond~zctedback again, so as t o afford c 6 Mes-
~wz~ltusllffil, sieurs les Russes" water commu~iication be-
~ n t sof Ogui! tween the Caspian and the capital of Marazm.
they spread This would indeed be ~evolutionisingAsia.
A single Toorkmun horseman, who was
thc meaning or
riding south, met us and sat down to share oz1~
VOI,. I. I'
66 A REPAST.

lamb, which was prepared h la Tartare, grilled two :

on ramrods over the embers of the stump of a sprine

tree. T h e Toorlcmuns had much the advan- of fin
tage of us, for they tore the hot flesli in pieces and,
with their horny fingers, and had nearly made l~altec
an end of the ineat before we could venture tvhicl.
upon it. I learned fi-om this a fact, which is beddi
perhaps not generally understood by civilised whicl
people -that the mouth can bear a much circle
greater heat than the fingers. It is on record horizc
that, a t the death of one of the Bunnee Abbas appar
caliphs, his upper robes were all found to be differr
greased on the riglit sleeve ; the reason of
~ v l ~ i cwas,
h that the Commander of the Faith-
ful, being always i~npatieiltfor his dinner, could
not wait till i t cooled, and so, rather than burn tree.
his fingers, he used to cover his hand with C1
the loose sleeve of his abba, and thus feed COUTS
himself. a riv
T h e night set in dark and rainy. At eight 111elte
o'clock we loaded the camels and marched up or SO
the bed for an hour and a half, when we got of hi
into a narrow path between rocks. Not a star W.S.
shone o u t to guide us, and, the rain making the that 1
path slippery, the camels inoved unw illiilgly on, dure i
steadying themselves at every step. P J e lost their t
our way more than once, but at last our guide or disi
found t h e spot he was in search of, and froin for t h,
 " r

AUJERBE AND BALKAN IIILLS.

.taw, grilled two till five in the morning we halted a t a

stump of a. spring of delicious water, rising from a plateau
the advan- of fine grass. TVe marched away hence N.E.
tsh ill pieces and, getting on the plain again after an hour,
nearly made halted near some high tamarislc bushes, with
luld ven tllre which we made a fire to dry our clothes and
ict, which is bedding. From this point we viewed the hills
by civilised which we had left, running in a seglnent of a
ear a much circle nearly W.E. by S.W. and touching either
is on record 4 horizon. They are named Aujeree, and are
~ n n e eAbbas apparently of volcanic origin, being formed of
found to be differently composed rocky strata, set very ir-
ie reason of reg~llarlyill various coloured eartl~s. O n some
)f the Faith- of the Iiarrow flats between the roclrs grew
]innel., could excellent grass, and here and there a slnall
:r than buru tree.
hand will1 Close t o ~vherewe halted was a small water-
d th~lsfeed course, lately dried, and Orauz Icellije said that
a rivulet ran in tlie great bed when the snow
. Ateight melted and the spring rains fell. Thirty illiles
marcl~edup or so distant on our left was a higher range
when we got of hills, named Balkan, running E.W.E. b y
Not a star W.S.\V, from horizon to horizon. W e learned
making the that there are several springs, and nlucll ver-
willingly on, dure in theem, and that inany Toorkmuns pitch
3 W e lost their tents there in summer. Of their height
st our guide or distance we could not form a correct notion,
,f, and from for they were enveloped in mirage, which in
I? 2
68 TIIE MIRAGE.

this desert distorts the appearance of every

distant thing. Tllis Fata Morgana" was ever
6'

round us ; now sho~vingthe appearance of a

lake of water, with whatever mas near, dis-
tinctly reflected in i t ; and in another view,
not o111y l~eighteningdistant objects, but seem-
ing to separate and raise them fro111 the earth.
I shall not forget seeing a man in the distance
leading two camels ; the figures were lengtll-
elled out to spectral height, and anybody might
have been excused for fancying them beings of
anotl~crworld.
All over the East the people say that these
illusions are caused by tlae refraction of the
sun's rays upon a, salt soil. There is salt
enough in tlae soil of this desert to justify the
supposition, if the phenomenon can be thus
accounted for. T l ~ emost magical appearance
of the kind is that which is seen on the sea of
Reggio, but that appears only to be formed
when the sun has a certain altitude: while in
the desert the time of day, or the position of
the san, was immaterial. The appearance was
strongest when the air was still : in cloudy or
n i n J y weatl~erthere were only patch& of thick
vapour here and there.
W e were en route again at half past ten, artd
journeyed all clay over a barren wh#e plain, on
 F

BARREN PLAIN.
Iarance of every which there was not a blade of herbage-not a
organa7'was ever weed. I n parts it was strongly impregnated
appearance of a wit11 salt, and portions of soil on wllich the
Ir was near, dis- ~niilernllay in a thin crust, when refracted in
in another view, the extreme distance, llad the appearance of
~bjects,but seein- white buildings. The hard cslrth sounded
n from the earth,
under tlle horses7feet, but some traclrs of deep
n in the distance
lres were length-
d anybody might These, and the bones of a camel which lay
g them beillgs of bleaching in 111e sun, were the only signs we
had of any other Living thing having passed
~ l say
e that these ovcr so waste a place. Before us was ap-
refraction of tlie parently a forest, but, when we neared it at
There is salt evening, we found only large bushes growing
2rt to justify the in deep sand, with here and there a small tree ;
1011 can be thus
so much did the mirage deceive us, accusto~ned
igical appearance as we had become to its illusions. A cuckoo
?en on the sea of was singing on the decayed branch of a small
ly to be formed tree ; we saw some beautifully coloured paro-
ltitude : while in quets (thc body green, head and wings of a
r the position of rich brown colour), and a flight of birds like
e appcarailce was the Indian ininas; and, desolate as the scene
ill : in cloudy or was, there was a beauty abont it in the stillness
L
r patches of thick of broad twilight. Occasionally, during our
jonrney from Goorgaun, we had started a hare
from her form ; many antelopes bounded across
the plain ; and the desert rat (an animal rather
 slighter thim a comlnon rat, with a tuft on the great e
tip of its tail, and which springs with four time tl
feet, like a kangaroo,) was everywhere com- and wi
mon. T h e Toorkmuns are more particular than certain
the Arabs, who, Burckhardt says, eat this little his tril
aniinal as a dainty : " but," observed my corn.. tion a
panion, who has travelled in Arabia, " no rep- compa
tile comes amiss to an Arab, from a snake to a
lizard :-and why should i't ?--Europeans eat
I
--
frogs ! " r

We got off the plain after sunset, and travelled

for an houl; by a heavy sandy road between I
weedy jungle, to a large pond of water calIed
I
Clieen IPIoh~lininud,where we rested all night,
This is a great l-~altingplace for caravans, and,
moreover, much esteemed by the Toorkmuns, I
as the reputed burial-place of St. Mohurr~mud
Cl-Ioonee, a Soonnee, who succeeded in gaining
such influence over these superstitious Tartars,
i
that he tl~oughthe could make successf~11war 1
upon the Persians, but who fell a martyr to his
I
ambition, 01; as the Toorkmuns have it, his 1101~ I'
zeal. " Thyud Aga," said Yeerw~allee," recite 1
1
a Mteheh, this is sacred ground."
I t was 1 - 1 0decided
~ that we were ahead of
the caravan, because it must come by this road, I

and there were no late footmarks. Habit en- 5

1

slbles these sons of the desert to determine with

E
 ACCURACY OF OUR GUIDE. 71
; 011 the great exactness, by the traces of a caravan, the
th four time that has elapsed sii~ceit was at any p l q e ;
:.e com- and with regard to route, old Peer~vullee,who
lar than certainly was not among the most sagacioizs of
lis little his tribe, led us day and night in as true a direc-
1y corn.. tion as if he had laid his points dowa by a
no rep- compass.
ke to a
3ns eat

-avelled
letween
r called
I night.
.s, aad,
kinuns,
~mmud
pining
l#'artars,
Ful war
r to his
is holy
recite

ead of
s road,
,it en-
e with
 sugar or
thinking
for him,
him to t
Early
baked I
faslliorl,
CHAPTER VI.
route, P
" .> / '
.
Peerwul1ee.-New Arrivals.-Apprehended Danger.-De- @lop :
I
.
,
,.
, ., cision of the Syud. -Departure of Kellije. -Suspicious
. . o
, : , .
, , .
, ,
cealed t
,.:.' , ,
Conduct of our Guides.-Toorkish Politeness.-Capricious
"
..'
, , ,
'
_ '
,
.
-
lreatmcnt. - Supcrstitiol~. Oath of Friendsllip. A
r 7
- tirne to
110 host:
-. .A.-...
8 ,
..-.- . lioory F1ypocrite.-Arrive a t an Oube11.-Reception.-
I Refuse to proceed with our Guides.-A Conference, to be a1
Stolci~Sword.-A Warning.-A Bencc1iction.-Burying-
C;rou~~rl.--HolyTemp1c.-Toorkmuu 0ffel.ings.-Meshetl- j
Y
when th
e-B1isl.eaun.-l'crsiall~ Antiquities.-AII Antelope Chase. !, we recoi
-A murderous Proposnl.-Despo~~clency of Abdoolla11.- I<o~lli, '

Susl)icious Conduct.-A coinf'ortlcss Nig11t.-I~lspection S~CO

-
of llnggage. - Extortion. Lcft witliout llesources. - articles
ARecterl Courtesy of our Guides.-Wandering ill the
Desert. - Peermullee's Insolence.
--The Cazee's OubeIi.
- Abused in Return.
1' :
These
with hi
i
M A Y 2nd. - Peerwa~llee arose mnch re- iilg hol
fi.es11ed by an unbrolcen night's rest. Our
i w:~terec
kiildness to him affords a striki~lg contrast j (their
wi ttl his subsequent rascality. Our servant heated)
Abdoollah had frequently given him u p " l'he
his seat on the camel, and taker] the lead- cover up
ing-string; our stores were always open to every 1101
him (and he lt7:ts never tired of asking for I l i i ~ ~t
 NEW A1ZB.IVALS. 73
sugar or raisins), and tllis night in particular,
- thinking him ill from fatigue, we had made tea
f o him,
~ lent him covering, arid, in sl-lort, put
him to bed as one would a sick child.
Early in the inorning Orauz Ikllije had
balred bread i n e'mbel-s, after the Toorkmun
fashion,* and we were preparing to resume our
~.oute,when four horsemen came upon us at a
encled D'mger.--Uc. gallop : a sand-banlr, under which wc lay, con-
ICellije. -Suspicious cealed the road from us, and w e had only just
01itencss.-Capriciaus
of Fricndsliip. -A
timc to run to our arms. Sceing that they had
)ubeh.-Reception,- no hostile intention, we at first supposed them
:s.-A Conference.- t o be an advance party from the caravail, but,
enediction.-Burying-
when they came forward a i ~ dsaluted l'eerw~allee,
I Offerings.-Meshed-
-An ilntelopc Chase* we recognised two of theill ; one, II,1011n~nmud
.ency of ilbdoolIa11.- Mouli, brother to our G o o r g a u ~host,
~ ancl the
s Night.-Inspection second, ELbek, tlle worthy mer~tisncdin the
rithout Resources. - articles of agreement as brother to o u g-uide.
~
-Wandering ill the
-Abused in Return. These took Peerw~illee aside and conversed
with him, while the other two led their foam-
arose much re- ing horses to the poad, and, u ~ l ~ ethey n had
;ht's rest. Oor watered them, galloped them about at speed
itriking con trnst (their usual pl-actice when the animals are
. Our servant heated). Tlie behrtviour of the new comers
given him up * The Toorltxnuns bum sticks or weecls to ashes, and
talien the lead- cover up a calte of ui~lcavenecldough in them, turning i t
always open to every 11ow ancl then to prevent its burning: bread thus pre-
1 of asking for p;~redis exc.ellent.
was any thing but friendly: they took 110 state 0
direct notice of us, but spolre to Peerwullee your fi
with much earnestness, ill a low tone, turning though
their eyes upon us every now and the11 in n is daub
mauner that plainly showed we were the sub- muns ;
ject; of their conversation, and it may be im- eyes, a
agined that we did not feel very comfortable They a
the while. party 1
T h e conferelice ended, I plied Biibek with BAbek
salaam alekooms; but w i t l l o ~ t100kiilg up, he I<ouli
busied himself in wetting earth and drawing a had be
string tllrough it, to malte a channel for to, and ha
d oilly word that P could
bacco ~ m o k e , ~ b nthe he mosl
disti~guishamong the few that he muttered To t
was-Jehu?i~~zt~n.He was an ill-looking old E noured
fello~v, for leprosy had whitened parts of his
face, and left the others of their original IB to serv
IChan,
swartby colour. Mohurnmud Icouli was a
large, bull-necked maa, with a good-humoureci
It a part4
that OL
face, a i d he had the civility to ask after+ the 1t that tl
I
* This is tlie Toorliinuu travelling-pipe. They wet the i defenct
! aside v
ground to the consistency of clay, and cut a srn~llltrench, in
which they lay a string : then beating down earth upon this, I leaving
they draw it gently out, and a cllanllel is lefi, on one e 1 ~ 1of
which they put a pinch of tobacco, ant1 to the other their
1 which
selves (
mouths, and inhale, what my fiiends desuibed as-" a
wliich
draught cool as the breath of Paradise." f FI-.
:I Damaugll-e-shoomall chauck ust ? may be literally forced
translated, c L Are your brains fat ?" in a mc
 they toolc 110 state of our brains. By the extremity of
to Peerwullee your favour, good," was the Syud's answer,
v tone, turning tliougll 110w far he was justified in saying so
and the11 in a is doubtful. The other two were just Toork-
were the sub- muns ; ragged little fellows, wit11 small elliptie
it inay be im- eyes, and very little either of nose or beard.
~y comfortable They were all armed with swords : three of the
party had guns of all calibres and fashious, and
?d Bribek wit11 Bibek carried a light spear. Mohummnd
looking up, Ile llouli was the leading man of the party: he
and drawing a had been in the service of the Icoord chief,
channel for to, and had learned Persian, in which langyage
rd that I could he mostly addressed us.
~t he muttered TO the Sj-ud's question, why they liad ho-
ill-looking old noured us by coming, they answered, purely
?d parts of his to serve us: that one Soolt.(tun R'Bohummud
their original Khan, of the Jaffer B'i tribe, had set out with
lCoali was a a party to murder and rob us, on the report
;ood-humoured that our camels were laden with gold ducats;
ask after$ the that they had ridden day and night to the
defence of their guests, and that we must turn
pe. Tliey wet the
t a small trench, in
aside with them to a place of safety. Then,
vn earth upon this, leaving us to make up ogr minds upon words
left, on one end of which their counienances belied, they sat them-
to the other their selves down to the contents of our table-cloth,
described as-'( a which Abdoollah unrolled before them, with a
-1- I-I-. forced alacrity that would have excited inirth
may be literally
in a moment of less alarm.
76 DECISION OF THE SYUD.

We were all naturally mucll flurried by this

surprise, and for some tiine were by no means
certain tllat the new coiners woizld not pro-
ceed t o direct hostility, so very sour were the
looks that they turned upoil us: however, my
friend, tlie Syud, was not long in recovering
his presence of mind, and in deciding what
'

course to follow,' upon reasons which he partly

then, and subsequently, fully explained to me.
There could be no doubt, he said, that these
me11 either susl~ucted our character, or were fifob
urn:

them
ated ill their hands as when left t o the tel~der con3 e .
lnercies of tlle said pursuiilg or any other party,
since, if we went our own way, in opposition
to our hosts' advice, !;hey would consider thein-
selves absolved from all claims upon their pro-
tection ; that perhaps indeed they wished for downca
such a]-I excllse to cast us off and then set some w a s grc
of their allies up011 us. dlt?lougll we were a s i s t e d 11
match for these, re~tsoned m y friend, they

their numbers; and, even supposing that we

could dispose of thein, we had advanced so far
 SYUD. NEW GUIDES. I 77
1~11 f l ~ ~ r r i eby
d tllii into the desert, that we C O L I not
~ ~ hope to rnalce
lvere by 11 t 11('itll' good our escape from it, since the first person
rs wonld not lJrG' who met 11s in our wanderings would consider
rery sour werc tl" US in the light of a godsend, and use means
U S : l ~ o w e v c l ' ,tll? to secure ns. Oilr best plan therefore, he con-
long ill recoverifld cluded, was, to be guided by our captors, and
i n deCidillg \%'lilt keep 011 terms with them as long as possible ;
1s which he l~:lrtl!' to be strictly oil our guard, yet endeavour to
y explainctl t o :bfc. corlccal our distrust, and find out their real in-
he said, that t l i t - . ~ . tentions. Upon this determination, cve told
cllaracter, o r \vi'if- J!Iohurnmud Kouli and Iris party that, being
ads us; t11:tt i t i tfit- their guests, we would of course go wllerc they
uth in t h e i r 3 ~ 3r9;;. chose to 'take u s ; and accordingly, when they
ined to p r o t e c t tt-, had broken tl~cirfast upon what remained of
1 that, if t l c~\ r \k-t.i.c our bread, we mounted our camel, and allowed
,uld be as w t h l - i t i t - them to conduct us baclc the road we had
left to t h e tt*~:tl:: come.
or any othel- IP;LI ty. Yee~-u~~rllee,I sho~lldhave observed, lcept
way, in oppc,.-i'ric :: o u t of the way, on preteuce of watering his
l~lldconsidex- t iat,;ir- camels : wlierl a t last the Syud got an oppor-
ins upon t h c i v - tunity of conferring with him, he said, with a
d they w i s l ~ t v l t~.: downcast loolr and shuffliilg manner, that there
and the11 sc.t 3 , ,;t. was great danger on the road ; that, if we in-
ltI10~1~:'ll w e \t r e-,. .. sisted upon risking it, he woilld lead us on ; but
1 r e €1, ii 1%\ that we had better be advised by our friends,
btain an acldi t i r y,) who were good men and meant us well. It
supposing t l ~ ; t t t- was evident that he had been tallccd ovel; and
ad advancecl s t +g !r that we could place no dependence upon him.
'78 DEPAETURE OF KELLIJE.

Brauz Ilellije several times eari~estlyrequest-

ed leave to depart. The Syud told him that i t
depended upon l~iinselfto desert us, b ~ lttl ~ a we
t
~vouldnot virtually release him from his pledg-
ed word to accoinpany us to Khiva; and, on
the other hand, promised him a good reward
if lle abided by his engageme~lt. B e replied
that, having promised to travel with u s to his
home, he would not go unless we acquitted
him ; b u t that, as he could not interfere wit11 our
hosts' arrangements, he could not lnuch serve
us-~vhile they threatened t o take his life if
he reinai~~ed.W e could then n o longer refuse
t o release the lad, and therefore gave him some
money for his past labours, and declared hiin
free from his promise. Orauz IBellije, as .he
said, would have been little able t o serve us
while our captors mere averse t o his remain-
ing ; but we had become good friends upon the
road, and I believe we all experienced an in-
creased feeling of helplessness when he said
his Allall YArin, and rode off.
T h e anxiety of the whole party to get rid
of this young Inan boded us no good ; but we
felt a security in the possession of our arms, of
whicl~they had not attempted t o deprive us.
W h e n upon the plain again, we struck off west,
skirting the jungle, and marched for an hour,
 . .
APPEARANCE OF TIIX ChKh\'AN.

until we saw a few camels grazing upon weedy

bushes, tended by a half-naked Toorlimun, ~vitli
whoin our party held some conversation. W e
aslted if i t was in this person's oubeli that we
were to talce refuge : they aiiswrerecl 110, and
led us 011 again still west. Towards evenii.lg,
they halted and asked for food : of course our
stores 'were produced for our hosts ; indeed we
were glad to see their thoughts turn ~ipoiieat-
ing, for we were not without fear that tliey
serve had led 11s off the track, in order to clespntcll
us quietly. Water they had folgotten t o bring,
but tlie deficie~lcywas made up by clnrifieci
.solme butter, of which \ve carried a large pot, ""(1
I hirn : they dressed some rice and raisins after :i ~ n a n -
nei? probably unheard of in cookery, i~~alcirlg
ire 11s Abdoollah bestir lliinself to wait upon them ; a
main- foretaste, as he ruefully observed, of the servi-

The 1o11g line of the caravan we thought t o

have travelled with was just ill sight a t snrlset,
far off across the plain; they had d o ~ ~ l ~ t l c s s
passed i t and led us west t o avoid ,it. Tile
Syud thea addressing our hosts, as they mcrc
pleased to call themselves, snicl, that it lvas ill]-
possible to doubt the goodi~essof tIwir ll-lotivc,
bnt tllat we did not exactly compl-cl~elldtlsil.

./
80 SUSPICIO'IJS C O N D U C T O F OTJR GUIDES.

intentions regarding us ;-that we wished to

go to I<hiva, not to retrace our route. They
answercd vaguely, that I was said to be a Rus-
sian spy, in Abbsls Meerza's service, travelling
\
114th boolis, instruments, and inuch money,
on my master's service ; aiid that they must
satisfy themselves how far the report was true.
14Te told thein to examine our baggage, aiid
convince theinselves that we had no wealth,
and thell escort us to the caravan, where there
was force enough to resist the party said to
be out against us ; or two of their number
might come 017 with U S to Khiva, where R.us-
sians would certify that I' was not of their
country, and Tadians, that I came from Min-
doostA11. No !-we must absolutely go with
them to Bcibek's " oubeh !"- Our friends re-
quired an assurance of our safety ;-186belr had
killed a horse, worth one hundred tomauns, in
his hurry to serve us ;--our baggage would be
exaillined in due season, arid finally they would
thennselves escort us to Allee Kouli Khan at
Khivn. Ht now struck us that they were
ageilts of a higher party ; for books and instru-
ments, we felt sure, were not their own thought,
arid we had 110 sort of wish to be introduced
to AUee Icouli Khan. T h e dialogue ended
tvith their telling us not to fear, and though
led to we could not exactly do as they bade us, we
They felt that we had no voice in the matter, and so
i Rus- resolved to await the upshot philosophically.
relling Our next march was to the spring of clear
loney, water in. the Aujeree hills, where we halted for
lllust two hours; and, again rnarching on till noon,
3 true. our conductors found another sinall spring to
!, and the riglit of the road, where they halted and
realth, cooked food. Here I was astonished at an in-
there stance of B&bekYspoliteness ; he actually took
,id to his jubba off, and spread it over a bush, invit-
1111ber ing me to repose uader the shade of it. This
Rus- was coinfortiag, for it looked as if we
their were not going to be killed ; but as a set-off
Kill- t o the civility, one of the others found ineans
with t o introduce his hand into the pocket of my
Is re- dress, and extract a sniall pocket compass, be-
r had fore I was even aware of his vicinity. This fa-
IS, in miliarity was resisted, and, on the Syuki's re-
.d be monstrating, he apologized, saying, that he was
rould a Toorkmun, and that their customs were freer
in a t than other people's :--a truth that we could
were not but feel the force of. On the march, our
stru- friends usually preceded us, and, when they had
.1gbt,' ridden some distance ahead, they would picket
uced their horses, and stretch themselves to sleep.
r~ded Tl~ouglivery scantily clothed, they were all
)Llg.ll excellently mounted : BBbek's horse (a chesnut,
VOL. 1. G
 CAPRICIOUS TREATlMENT.

that h e said he had hired a t the cleat11 of his

own,) was a perfect model, and altogether we
should have made a very pretty picture.
TVe deviated a little from our former course
through the bed: ascending the left bank sooner,
aild keeping along it, we passed over an old
burying-ground. The Syud thought that it
was Mohuminudai~,but the head-stones of tlie
graves had fallen, and he did not think it pru-
dent to stay the camel and descend, as we
wished to appear as incurious as possible.
This evening they took money from us, and
went to purchase a lainb; but they kept us
out of sight of the 'oubeh. W h e n they return-
ed, they brought with them another brother of
our Gool.g.aun host's, a young man, ~ v h ohad
been obliged to remain behind, in consequence
of his horse falling lame : he would now how-
ever accoinpany us, they said, and we might
therefore pay the fourth man of their party
two tomauns for the trouble h e had incurred,
arid dismiss him. Seeing that we were nearly
retracing our steps, we proposed going to As-
trabad, as our provision was exhausted. TVe
might fare as Toorkm~ansdid, they said; arid
then, in atonement for this lapsws of their real.
feeling, they put on an affectionate manner.
W e were on strange terms with thern. for
 - ---- - --8- --- ~77- " -- - . - - - .- - .

SUPERSTITION OF OUR GUIDES.

while treating us so capriciously, they were in

some measure afraid of the Syud. I l e had in
this short time acquired an.inAuence over these
superstitious men, thoug11 unfortunatelyit only
worked when not opposed t o their immediate
interests : they thought him a Soonnee, and a
great devotee, and always after the first day
addressed him by the respectful title of Syud
Aga, or as they lispingly pronounced it, Thyud
as we Aga,-my lord Syud. T h o u g l ~they never
tliougl~t of saying their prayers, they seemed
IS,a11r.I inucl~edified when he went through the forms ;
:pt 11s and, being from ignorance very superstitious,
eturn- they wcre affected by some obscure words that
her of he here and there threw out. H e impressed
o liad them wit11 the idea that he was a co~ljuror,and
k
uence I a hakeem : Peerwullee, on whose face we
now read every species of villany, had t,he im-
might pudence to request the Syud not to conjure
Party dowil evil upon him and his family, for that he
nrred, was our friend ; and B&bek, coining to me,

3 As-
IVe him some years before, in consequence of his
gricf at having been taken pl.isoner by the
- real GBklans. I promised to cure him at Astrabad,
n n elv. but he was too old a, rat to be caught so easily.
for They were nnxioos to know what corllcl in-
G 2
 *

OATTI OF PRIENDSIITP.

d~lcesuch an i~ltimacybetween a descendallt

of tile ~ropllet'sand an unbelievel; and whether
we Tvere on those ,terms that he would n o t
separate himself from me. IZe replied, on n o
account, for tliat I was one of tbe good sort
of Icaufirs, who read books, and did not pray
to images, and that he had taken me for a
brother. T h e last expressioi~?elates to a Mo-
hummudan custom (chiefly however observed
by the Sheah sect), by which a man, entertain-
ing an excessive friendship for another, makes
a solemn vow of it. On the 18tl1* day of the

* This day is cnlled Rooz-e-Gh.z~ddee~-e Ii~Gona-the d a y

of tlie reservoir of IC116orn. When Mohummud was on his
return fiom Mcccn, h e halted at IChBom (a stage w11e1-e
there was a reservoir of wnter), and lnalring a rostrum o f
camel Itajavahs, took up Allee upon it, and declared him
1vol*t11yto be his successor in the follorving words :

" Untu minnee bimunzilute I-IBroon min MoosA,"

'(Tl~ouart to me in the same stead as Aaron was to Moses."

This huddees affords an instance of the manner in wl~icll

the Sheah and Soonnee divines carry on their religious con-
troversies with each other. The Sheahs quote the words,
and argue that, beyond a doubt, they constitute AlIee t h e
Wuse; Rusoo Oollah, or the heir by will to the Prophet of
Ck~d. The Soonnees, in retort, say, It is known from t;]le
Korbn that Aaron died forty years before Moses ; how t;llell
c o ~ l dhe be Moses' heir ?
 A IlOARY HYPOCRITE. 86
?en a descendailt twelfth inonth (Zehedja,) two such friends
wer, and whether meet in a mosque, and after the recital of an
~t he would not Arabic formula, bind theinselves to be to each
Ie replied, on no other cc as brothers in this world and in the
of the good sort next." Such a vow, the Persians say, sliorrld be
md did not pray very binding ; for they hold, with Jeremy Tay-
talcell me for s lor, that fraternity is but a cognation of bodies,
;.elates to a Mo- but friendship, a union of souls ; it is not how-
lowever observed ever rare to see such cronies become bitter ene-
a man, entertain- mies, inasmuch as the poorest of the pair is
)r another, inakes often inclined to pay too little regard to the
18th* day of the distinctions of rnezttrz and tuum.
4th.-This morning early, a white-bearded old
esr-s Ii~6onz-the day man, mounted on a pony, overtook us. Him
:ohurnmud was on his the Syud addressed, appealing to t l ~ ewisdoin
:118om (a stage where
that belonged to his years, whether i t was fair
~nalcinga rostrum of
it, and declared him treatment to guests to lead thein about agains&
lwiilg words : their will. The old man was flattered by ail ap-
peal to what, perhaps, few had given hini credit
min Moosfi,"
3011
for, and spoke a few words of reinonstrance to our
Aaron was to Moses."
conductors, who, deeming it advisable to quiet
f the manner in wllicll his sympathy, discovered that our cainels were
on their religious con- overloaded, and proposed to hire his pony at a
eahs quote the words, good rate. A few trifling things were accord-
?yconstitute Allee t h e
will to the Prophet of
ingly put behind his saddle, and in a short time
It is known from the the old villain was the most forward of the
fore Moses ; liorv then party. This old person never failed to halt
five times a day for the purpose of saying his
 7 --?-.-?-~ -.-. .-

RECEPTION.

~ ~ ~ ~for ~wishing ~ l tol avoid

e e their camp,
looking upon the act as a slight to their hospi-
tality. Peerwullee excused hiinself by saying
that we were al~xiousto join our friends, who
were awaiting us ; but we gladly accepted the
offer of shelter froin the rain, and all hands
were shortly employed in removing our bag-
gage to the nearest tent.
r fl'o111 W e recognized the camp as the one at which
1 f'rolll we had breakfasted early on the 29th. They
,111clli- boiled sweet rice-milk, and baked bread, and set
i t before us ; three brothers of our host (Ista-
,A. LLIICI kour), and one or two others remaining to par-
1,say- take. T h e Syud's sword (a very good ICho-
1 wpitli rassaun blade) was ~nissing: the master wearied
us with protesting that it had not beell brought
over the threshold of his tent, and the Syud at
I'OLLI*- last begged him not to afflict himself, since i t
it1 o i a ~ . had beell doubtless taken by some one curious
sllcxrt; in sword-blades, who would shortly return it.
1al.tlly Peerwullee hastened to prevent our answering
their enquiries as to the reason of our return,
by .saying that Orauz ICo~llihad 'sent for us
back, there being danger on our road. The
repast ended, the Syud took upon himself to
, say a long Arabic grace, at the conclusion of

whic11 all passed their hands down their beards,

and said, Allah H o Acber !% " W e 1' 1 remain
* God is great.
 A CONFERENCE. 89
ion. CC YOU
're ill, bringing 'wi tli them another very ill-loolcb~g
nd w e l c o l n e as fellowr, who sat down and stared at us. EIc
"-" %We may took up my sword : a Is it a good blade ?"
rut us forth ?" I asked hiln, as he loolted alternately at i t and
-we felt saved, me. It ~ y o ~ lbed better if it were mine,"
to s l e e p . W e was his laconic answer. The rest seated them-
liis wife, t w o selves sulkily to the food that was set before
, H e a v y rain
them, not deigning a reply t o tlie Syud's salu-
le s o t z n d of i t tation. It was know11 in camp that we mere
and felt addi- averse to proceeding witli them, and as soon as
I all i n c l e ~ n e ~ ~ t tlley came our tent was crowded. I counted
e c i d e d o u r fate. tliirty-one heads. By degrees their sullriness
ien Peerwullee wore off, and they talked earnestly witli our
'he S ~ J -posi- I ~ host's brother ; our servant (who alone well
)t b a d g e a step understood the language) tral~slatingtheir con-
ends ; that we versation, frorn time to time, in a low tone to us.
nd t h a t h e and They wished to take us away. Cr There mast
p l e a s e d ; since, be no fol-ce used," said one brother, (<itwould
Iesert, with ant bring discredit upon our oubeh ; if you call
Ire, w e released pers~radethem, well." Istakour was then called
111 ne-ger forget out t o private confe~ence. On liis return, the
nrith w h i c h m y Synd addressed him to the follo~vingeffect :-
; p e e c h ; it sent LC YOUsaid last night that we were welcoizle to

n m ~ ~ . z l x i c a ttllc
e remain i n your tent ; do we now i n t ~ u d e?"
we enjoyed a ' < N o; you are welcome." <' Then we 're your
and fresh lnilk, gue8s, and will remain here till we hear from
lr great dexte- our friends at Astrabad :- these men have
t u r n e d tables broken their faith, and we will not go wit11
our they c a z n c tlieln ; we are your guests." Istakour seemed
 T O O I ~ I C ~ I U NIIOSI'ITALITY.

at a loss how to answer, and spoke a few words

in a low tone, Our servant, who was all atten-
tion, caugllt their meaning, and exclaimed, " H e
says we are tlie guests of those who bro~ightus,
and t l ~ 11e
t cani~otinterfere." W e were, not
prepared for this, but, having heard so much
about Toorkinun hospitality, I thought that an
appeal to it might be effective, and accordingly
addressed a spekcll to the company, which the
Syud rendered in Turkisl~, saying, that we
had come among them trusting to their pro-
verbial good faith ; that, having been falsely
dealt with by those who had received us as
guests, tve threw ourselves upon their protec-
tion ; and that, if they r e f ~ ~ s eus
d shelter, there
was an end to their name for hospitality, &c.
MThether m y speecll lost in the translation, 01-
what, they but laughed at it, and our only hope
then lay with the brother of our host, who had
spoken f o ~11s. r c Don't you see," said Bhbelr
earnestly to him, " that these are not every-day
food?'' and he whispered (probably the report
of O L I ~wealth). " Well ! you insy take, may
kill thein, if you please, but no good will colne
of i t ; 1 wash my hands of the matter."

best feeling a~nongtllern.

The stolen sword now became the subject: of
 STOLEN SWORD. 91
,olre a few worcls altercation, for our captors, unwilling to let so
rllo w a s all atten- esteemed a n article slip from tlieir fingers, loudly
" I-l c insisted upon its being produced. " Ai ! men,"
who b r o u g h t was 311[ol~z~immu& I-Couli's address to his bre-
we wel-e not tl~ren, cc shall it be said that the sword of a
lleard SO m"cI1 guest was stolen from lliln w1:ile in y o u camp ?"
t l l ~ ~ ~ b tall Istakour said that the whole oubeh s11011ld be
and a c c ~ ~ d i l l g l y put upon their oaths. Mohua~rnudICouli came
pany, which the to the S y u d for a K o r h . H e had not one.
iaying, that wc c c That book in your bundle?" --"Is not a
g to pro- o r 7 - " I t will do as well ;" and, first raising
n g b e e n falsely i t t o his forehead, then kissing it, he carried it
r e c e i v e d u s as off and swore the \vliole camp without success.
111 t h e i r pl-otec- I-Ie then came to the Syud for a toina~~n, by
LIS s11eZte1-, there means of which he said he might perhaps lean
h o s p i t a l i t y , &c. where t h e sword was ; but, strange to say,
t r a n s l a t i o n , or awong ssuell rogues, gold did no inore than tlle
1 our o n l y hope oath. D u r i n g this, one of the party came in
- host, who haci and pressed us t o go, declaring that, if we at-
e," said 1 3 8 b e l c tempted t o stay and bring reproach upon them,
b not every- day they would tale our lives. The Syud coolly
~ b l yt h e r e p o r t answered, that if they were in ltilling mood
lay t a k e , znay they n i i g h t kill hiln where he sat, and tllen,
;ood w i l l collie perhaps, some good Mooselmaun would give him
decent burial ; that, if they wished to sell us,
they might make us over to thc inaster of the
tent, for whom we would find ransom. A very
the s u b j e c t of old woman, who Ilad freq~~ently coinc i ~ l othe
 A BENEDICTION.

ely t o f o o l r at LIS,} we promised hinl fiirther reward if he did ; so

being alone f a a the Syud .hastily wrote a few words to our
and, 110ldi11g 1111 1 Astrabad friends, explaining our situation, and
g e s t u r e , she sitid : begging them to stir in o w behalf. Istakour
etlneh ! getn3cI 1 !" had. but just gone out with the money and
time t o remark to I.! letter. when Mohuminud Rouli entered, and
ds, the tent w a s warned us, on peril of our lives, not to attempt
messil~gthe ~nast c?r, to send a letter by other hands than theirs. It
? wlxel-c are y m r r struck us that Istakour had betrayed us, but
u a r e welcome t o nothing more was said. The old woman stood
it with t l l e r x i . " in the doorway of the tent as we went out, and
used against us irl twice gave me her benediction. I never felt
wish to u s e force, kindness so much, and hope the blessing inay
t m i n e ; a Toork- return a hundred-fold upon lier own head.
r of L I ~ S g ~ e s t s . ' ' Abdoollah said that she was an enfranchised
ler force, ennbletl slave ; perhaps she had not quite forgotten her
r e t a t i o n upon tllc home.
lardly have a l l c ) ~ v.- , None of the men voucllsafed ail Allah Ygrin;
they remained at a distance from the camels,
.. was
.?athv t fi~l- sulky at having been made to swear that they
li h e m i g h t l o a d were not thieves. W h e n clear of the encamp-
ment, Mohuinmud Ilouli rode up, and affecting
;poke12 apart T X ? t~1 to be deeply hurt at our distrusting them, bade
tell t o m a u n s l l c : us fear nothing. T h e Syud answered, wit11
lnuch discretion, that to tllreaten men's lives,
ittle conse q t c?l.rc.c
~ and then bid them not fear, was acting very
was a c b a i ~ c c<,>f inconsistently, but that we did not fear ; first,
this instance-, ;is becausc our lives conld only be taken by the
 UURYING-GIiOUND.

will of I3iin that gave thein ; secondly, that we

both could and would defend thein ; and tliat
for every injury done us our friends would re-
turn ten-fold upon Orauz I<ouli's family. This
was tlie 0 1 3 1 ~language we could hold after what
liad passed, and, tllough they put on a very
affectionate deineahour, i t sat but awkwardly
upon them. I n the evening, they came for
rnoney to purchase a lamb, saying, "Though
we're your hosts, we must trust to you for
food till we get horne, for we rode in haste to
serve you with oi11y our swords ; these are at
your service, and we are your Cholams."*
" Then escort us to Astrabad." '<You inust
go to Bkbek's oubeh." The last iiained worthy
went off, as he said, in search of this ouheh, aiid
we saw no more of him that day.
Early in the inorning of the 6th, we came to
an extensive burying-ground, where there were

* Glavcs. Domed mausoleums.

$ T h e ceremony of walking round a sanctified place,
which is supposed to balance many sins. M y friend feared
that they were compounding for.that of ltilling us, alld had
come tllitl~erto lnalie the dead "htrZZulJ1'as the Wahabee
pirates thought they did, by exclaimillg " Allah 1-10 Acber !"
when they cut thejr victims' throats.
 IIOLP TEMPLE.

and, not to be out of fashion, we also tramped

three times round it. Outside, near the door,
mas fixed i11 the wall a small blaclc slab, about
the size of a pane of glass. This, the old
Toorltmun said, was one of three which fell
from heaven : that Huzzarut Ibral!im, on re-
ceiving command to build Mecca, had corn-
menced it here, but that, subsequently ordered

stone to coilsole the people of Toorkii~ania.

Tlie second stone he said was at sC Meshed-e-
; t h e s e arc a t Mokuddus" (Meshed tlze Holy) in ICllorns-
lr Gholarns."* saun; and the third all tlie world knew to be
in the Caaba at Mecca. The interior of this
l i a r n e d tvortily teinplewas a well-sized apartment. l l h e ~ e w a s
;his o n bell, a n d a stone in a nicl~e,on wliich were cut sei~te~lces
in large " 1<ufivcharacter ; the Sy ud deciphered
thy w e carne to the first word, '6Bismillah," and guessed t l ~ e
ere there wcrc verse to be. the opening one of the ICorAn.
at in t o l c r a M c , From the centre of the roof llung an iron
hich WEIS built lamp, and in one corner was ail old chest, con-
11s t o Z i : ~ ~ i l:!:t , taining a few leaves of the ICorii~iand slips of
eulns.
L s a n c t i f i e c l ~)lacr*,
My f r i e a l c l f i ? ; ~ ~ ~ ! ~ t a custom which prevails all over the East, and
;]ling us, ant1 11;td which, though degenerated into a superstition,
as the 7 V : ~ l l i 1 l ) c ~ t
may perhaps be traced back to the early vows
All~thI-Ic> Acl,ol. !''
of the Hebrews. A inan who has set his heai-1;
 TUORIiRlUN OFPBRIWGS.

on anything, (among the Toorkmuns generally

an increase of camels or mares,) a woman who
has a sick infant, or wlio is childless, goes to a
spot reputed holy, and ties a piece of string or
leaves a rag there. If the wishes of the votaries .
coine to pass, they repair with joy to the spot,
and their inarlts, malring a feast accord-
ing t o the extent of their means, or setting aside
a trifle to be given in charity. If notl~ingre-
sults from the vow, (and, to judge from the
number of rags wllicl~are to be seen in such
places, such is generally the case,) the tatters
are suffered t o remain, to the shaine of the
saint at whose shrine they were offered. The
Shealis have a custom of writing small notes,
describing their needs and wishes, which they
address to their twelfth Iinaum, tvho is in
existence, though invisible, roving the earth
like the waridering Jew, and who is to become
apparent when Moh~il~lmudismdeclines, and
the world becomes very wicked. The notes
are either deposited at the shrine of a holy
man, 'or thrown into tvater (running wateli is- the
best), and the Imaum Melzdee comes to a know-
ledge of their contents.
IYleshed-e-Misreaun was plainly visible about
five miles to the west ; and, on Bhbek's rejoin-
ing US, after (as he said) a vain search for his
 MESEIED-E-MISREAUN.

oubeh, we marched on, and passed close under

the south wall of tlie ruined city. It was four-
square, each face of somewhat more than three
quarters of a mile. I think we counted twenty-
five bastions in the south face; they were
chiefly of burnt brick, and some were double,

which was a nearly filled up ditch. I n the

centre of the ruined houses were two very high
in sucll broken minars, and a stuccoed mosque in good
e tattors keeping ; and 011 two sides were 'remains of
high arched gates, such as now froat royal
residences in P e ~ s i a . I n advance of the soutll
wall was a watch-tower, and fronting the eas'tern
entrance was a large white mosque i n ,excellent
repair. Outside the city had evidently been
mixed houses and gardens, and at some miles'
distance we passed a broken- mosque, round
which we thought we could distinguish where .

the beds and walks of a garden had been, from

the rain resting in the former.
Of Meshed-e-Misreaun we coulcl obtain no
satisfactory accounts. From what the Toork-
muns said, it was evident that they knew no-.

VOL. 1. 13
 IJEIISTAN ANTIQUITIES.

their weight. No d o ~ l b tcoins cou1.d be pro-

cured from the r11ins in the desert, by means
of the Astrabad merchants, who are on terms
of i~ltinlacy with the Toorkinuns. I car1
scarcely believe, from tlze fresh appearance of
many of the buildings about lh%eshed-e-Mis-
reaun, that so many as five h~lnclred years
have elapsed since it was deserted. There are
many other large ruined towns in . advance of
the present Persian frontiei., which probably
only fell to ruin when the founder of the 3Clal.a-
zmia~ldynasty invaded I[<horassaun at the death
of Shah Islnael Sbii, not three hundred years . .
s that the ago; for Ilbars Sultaun, or his ltinsmeil acting
uilder his orders, fought wit11 the Toorkmuns
as far west as Abulkl~alland Mangishlauk.
W e ltept on towards the sea; a little soutll
of west, meeting no one ; but during the whole
of this day we viewed inwlts of buildings and
canauts, which proved t,hat the plaili had once
been populously tenanted. 'P'he relnsiils were
evidently Persian, showing that the latter
there were people had yielded to the encroachments of the
?arned that Tartars, till they had been brought up by the
hilly country, vhicll i t would not suit the
Toorlc~nunsto occupy.
1 sold them I n tile afterno011we halted at a pool of water,
rifle under in a patch . of coarse gmss, fr.olzz which our
 A MUltDEROUS PROPOSAL.. 101
affairs," said he, (( since setting out, and a
pretty business yo^^ have made of it : now let
me direct." W e gave him a half promise, and
lie proceeded to disclose his plan. " You've
seen how they have treated us, and how, avoid-
ing all camps, they have brought us to this
desert place; I've overheard their words here
and there, and.their intelltion is to rn~uderus :
now, when they have laic1 themselves down to
sleep, let us fall upon them, then seize their
llorses, and nlalce the best of our way to Astra-
bad." W e at once rejected this lnurderous
and wild proposal, but; bethought us of admi-
nistering a strong dose of laudai~umto them ill
tea; yet again we thought that some might
drinlc too much and be poisoned, and others
not take enough to make them sleep ; besides,
Aatrabad was forty fursiilihs distant, and we
could hardly hope to make our way through
the inany camps 011 the road. The sea-coast
was near, but there was little chance of our
finding a Russian vessel, so we finally resolved
upon what proved the best course, to trust in
Providence, and lceep on our guard.
Moburnmud lCouli this evening assisted Ab-
doollah froin off his camel, taking him round
the waist, and calling hiill by the affectionate
epithet of Abdoollal~ brother." There was,
((
 DESL'ONDENCY OE' ilLj.DOOLLflfI.

perhaps, never a better subject for an Hogarth .

than Abdoollah presented when hugged in the
embrace of Mohuminud ICouli, anxious to
appear flattered, yet horror-struclr st finding
himself in the grasp of one whose every motion
h e distrusted. The head of the deer which
they had caught was t~lraedtowards Mecca,
and his throat cut with tlie ceremonies; but
they had difficulty in keeping alive in the rain
a fire by which to coolr their meat. We lay
in our kajavalis near the baggage, on which
was seated ~bdoollah. We had taken it into his
head t o be offended, because we would not
coinmit cold-blooded murder, and from time to
time he vented his ill hamour in such expres-
sions as the following :-" Ai IChoda ! W h a t
asses we were to thrust ourselves among a
nation of dogs !"--<< Yah Allee ! get us out of
their l~aads."--~~ Didn't BIIoollB Nusr Oollall
warn you ? Didn't I, didn't all the town, warn
you ? and yet you would come ? Aiwah !"-
" Dust on your head, ye son of a burned father,"
exclaimed the Syud, roused into fury; ('is your
life more worth than our lives, that you inake
such a cry about it 2 If you 're killed, you 're
killed, and there will be one ass the less in the
world-Barilrullah !" Then Abdoollah would
sigh and recite a 'scrap of EIB.fiz, or drop his
 :ct for an Hogartll
beads for a f c d (a mode of casting an ,event,
hen hugged in tlie
less romantic, but much in the manner of Mar-
onli, anxious to
, garet's decisioil by the " Forget me not !").
.struclr a t fincling I t is but one of several ways in the modern art
hose every motion of divination in the East. Many soi-disuni:
f tile deer wilicll moollahs study nothing else, and find a profit
d towards Bfecca, in so doing.
ceremonies ; but The Toorkinuns ate the deer themselves, and
,r alive in the rain sent.us a little rice : when they had finished
ir meat. We lay their meal, they put their guns under the lcaja-
zggage, o n which vahs, and asked for ours,, that they might also
,d taken i t into his cover
-- them from the rain. AS it would have
se we would not been an open declaration of war to have alto-
and from t i m e to aether refused, and as I had pistols in my
b
ur in s u c l ~expres- lrajavah, I gave up my carbine ; but Abdoollah
LiKhoda ! W h a t would not be induced to part with his gun;
~lrselves among n his cloak he insisted upon it would keep i t dry,
lee ! g e t us out of and at list they let him retain it. Contrary to
0114 Nusr Oollah their usual custom, they slept close round us,
all t h e town, warn covering themselves from the rain with such
me ? A i w a h !"- things of ours as they could use for the purpose.
f a burned fatl~er," Just before we lay back in our kajavahs, Ab-
to fury; 6 ' i your
~ doollah put his head between ours, and said
s, that you make ,with a heavy sigh, "Aiwah ! we'll be mur-
're Irilled, you '1.e dered this night, and then you'll regret that
ass t h e less in tllc you did not follow my advice." There was
Abdoollah would something so Irish in the expression, that it
afiz, or drop l ~ i s was impossible not to smile at it, though there
was nothing very pleas~.trablein its import.
I indeed lay down in the fear that they would
attempt our lives : there was something alarin-
ing in the alteration of their manner towards
us since BQbekysreturn, and not, understanding
a word of their language, I was obliged to
trust to Abdoolla11's interpretation of i t ; and
then the old woman's warning came to mind.
T7S7 hatever were the Syud's thoughts, he slept
upon thein ; I did not venture t o close an eye.
Abdoollah, who wished to be on the alert, was
overpowered with fatigue; b u t on the slightest
stir he would t l ~ r o woff the cloth that covered
Iliin, and start to his feet. They were thus
often roused, and abused 11im for disturbing
them ; he said that h e was dreaming. A driz-
zling rain was drifting upon us, and, wliat with
wet and feverish uncertainty, I don't think
1 could pass a more comfortless night.
W i t h t h e earliest light of day we were all glad
to rise. They held a coilsultation apart, and
thea, coming to us, said that, as Biibelr's oubeh
did not appear to have marched u p from Goolv-
gaun, as they had expected, we should but lose
time in seeking for i t ; and that, tile threatened
danger being past, our best course would be
to make a fresh start for Hhiva, ullder tllejr
escort. First, however, t l ~ e ysaid, they must
 1NSPECTiON OF BAGGAGE.
pol-t:. examine our baggage, to see how far the re-
ould
ax-in - ports concerning us were true; and, as our
provisions had 'been nearly consumed, they
rards would go to Astrabad and buy more for us.
ding The Syud affected to fall in heartily with this
d to plan, for, assured that they wouldilot take 11s
and to Astrabad, he thought our best chance of
nind. relief would lie i n a letter of his writing ; and,
slept with a view to induce them to carry this, he
i eye.
spoke as though we had deposited much money
was in the harlds of olzr Astrabad friends.
,htest Our effects were regularly inspected, the
vex-ed Syud standing i n the inidst of them, and ex-
-t;h11s plaining the nstnre of eacli article produced,
rbing with the grace of a lecturer. " In this bag, I
dl-iz- beg leave to state, for your excellent selves'
with information, is pepper; in that, ginger and
tlliz7k other 'spice. These are Icerinan shawls, and
those silk scarfs,; and in that bundle are furs-
furs for the Ichiva market ;" and thus our
heavy baggage was passed. Tliey appeared
disappointed at finding pepper where they look-
- ed for ducats ; but, said Mohumlnud ICouli,
(6now for your private property." The olcl
inan was sent to bring in the camels, that lle
might not view the wealth which they thought
would now see the light, and they crowded
eagerly round the Syud as he prod~lced two
 SEARCII FOlE MONEY.

or three slnall boxes from the muffrushes."

One was a small medicine-chest : they took out
vials, held them to the light, smelt, and slowly
returned them, evidently not without a, sus-
picion that we were conjurors or alchymists.
And that box ?"-cc Also contains medicines ;"
-and under that head we passed our thermo-
meters, (whicl~they took for bottles) and a few
sil~allparcels. Tllere remailled but one box, in
tvllicll were some papers and books, and a brass

they raised to their forel.leads, and kissed,

deeming them sacred ones ; and it was farcical
e11oug11 to see rascals who were robbing us,
handing ~+ound a. volunle of Elphinstone's cc Cau-
Isnl," and kissing it reverelitially.
Bhbek weighed the heavy brass astrolabe in

it was not gold. " Where then is your money?"

said they. " WTe have one hundred alld forty
tomn~~ilsin our girdles." These were produced,

W a g s in \vhich luggage is stowed,

 JJXTOHT~ON 01: 01-rlt GUIDES.

as for Peerwullee, he was so delighted, that

could not help expressing his satisfactioll in a
sort of hysterical clluck1.e. " Y o u ' l i p a y B ~ ~ e l ~
for the horse he ltilled on your z ~ ~ c o u n t ? ".
-(< You see what little money we have t o take
us all the way t o Hirid~stan."--~~ W e '11 be con-
thermo- siderate, - say twenty-five tomauns, h e was
!ld a few worth a hundred!--and now for m y own trou-
ble," said Mohummud 1Couli.-" you best know
d a brass what v o u r exertions deserve," replied the Syud,
resignedly. - cc 1'11 talre five tomauns ; and,
c,ounting out thirty for the deceased horse a i d
l~iinself,h e made way for the otl~ers. BSbelc
valued his 1.abours at eight tornauns. " Give
Daoud Nuzzer seven (he came all the w a y ) ;
and ICourban Kouli, give him six. A tolnaun
will do for t h e old man, and t;hen there are the
other two." Money was talcen for two men
solabe in who wwe t o have joined us, and we were re-
lieved altogether of about half our cash.
Tile price of tlie dead horse was sociably
divided on the spot, and our bundles of clotl~es
were next loolced into, Bhbelr wanted 311 al-
khaulik, a n d t h e red-flowered one would just

tool< the best, and borrowed the Syud's grcell

sash to lieep it tight to his body. I &nlt lillow
 108 LEFT WITIIOUT RESOURCES.

how far their fancies would have rerninded

tlieln of wants, had not one of tlieln stlimbled
upon a chess-board: seizing i t with a shout,
they called to tlle Syud to explain tlie pieces
to them, and were presently stretched on the
ground, earnestly engaged in a game of chess.
-" We must now write for money as well as
provisions," said the Sy ud. -" Good," answered
Mollurnmud Icouli, " write for what you please,
but a word against us, and ' yailt. shunzslzeer,' one
blow of a sword for you." My friend won-
clered liow he co~lldbe supposed capable of
acting in an uilderbnnd manner, and then com-
posed a letter wllicli he hoped would cause the
bearer of it to be secured. I t was addressed
to Allee Khan, I-lossein 1t;ouli Aga, and I3iijee
PIl'otallib, and i t requested tllem to send us
three hundred tomauns of our inoney in their
Ilands, and also provisions, since our friends
who had ridden after us, had had occasion to
eat all our stores. T o Allee Khan, my friend
added a postscript, which he looked upon as
the very essence of dou6b entenclt-e; it was
fo~zi~ded upon the IQhan's parting caution to
me, and ran thus : " Iffy companioii is sick, send
a little slzruztb, for all the nrraclc that we had
has fallen to tlme ground." " Arrack," explain-
ed the Syucl, " signifies perspiration as well as
 AFFECTED COTJKTESY 01: O U R GUIDES. 109
strong spirit ; a n d if Allee Illlan has any under-
standing, he will con~prehend that we have
been so worked, that all the perspiration has, as
i t were, gone o u t of us." I could hardly con-
ceive that t h e IChan would have perception
e of chess. enough to gather from the words written that
as well as we were so completely dried up by sorrow ; but,
knowing that they would have the letter read
before delivering it, we could only write guard-
sheer,' olle edly, and if OUT friend but guessed our sjtua-
ieitd ~ 0 x 1 - tion, there was chance of relief.
W e parted with a thousand courtesies ; they
then corn- coi~linendi~lg us to the care o f . Peerwullee, and
cause t h e promising t o return in five days with rnoney
addressed and provi,sion, and then to escort us to Rhi17a.
R'lolluu~~mud ICouli followed us some distance,
I seiid us uilder pretence of paying parting complimen ts,
b u t in reality with the hope of getting my
pistols -if it was only on a loan, he said;
ccasion t o but the Syud took an oath against parting with
them, and said,. Cc I've sworn it," so he rode OK
TVe had now leisure to reflect upon their past
B; it was treatment of us, and to compare opinions as to
:aution t o their probable intentions. Abdooll.al~was of '
sick, send opinion that they had intended to murder us,
it we had b u t that he had twice tl~wastedtheir plans;
first by forcibly leading the camels up to tlle
as w e l l ZLS oubeh which PeerwulIee wished to avoid, and
 . ,

IYANDERING IN TIIE DESERT.

the nigllt before, by sneezing when lle saw

them conferring together-a sure inode of caus-
ing people to defer what they have on their
minds : b u t . wllen mre aslted his advice .for t l ~ e
future, he could thinlr. of no less desperate
course than shooting Peerwullee and running
away wit11 the camels. It was next t o a cer-
tainty that, if the party returned, they would
sell us, or take us to Hhiva, and give us up as
t ,, I spies; bat we were as little able to free our-
i .&
. ~ -- .... .. selves from the llalf captivity in which we
I were lield in tlze desert by one man, as if we
had beell in the custody of twenty : and our
uilly comfort (if coinfort it was) was the Syud's
~ ~ l ~ i l o s u ~ ~q~otto,
h i c a l whicl~ may be translated,
"Cl~e sara safa."
For the next two days, Peerwullee led us
about the desert in every direction, flattering
himself that we did not kiiow which way we
were going, and marching and halting just
when it pleased him. The sight of a cslinel in
the distance was sufficieiit to make him alter
his course, arid his object evidently mas to keep
us out of sight till his allies should return.
TVe oilly saw one solitary individual, 1~110,at-
tracted by our appearance, caine within hail,
and shouted out, " I tnust share in Oh
110,'' returned Peerwullee, cc these are guests."

,,,,."
~Ae-%&&z&,%L%&,,i,,.
 . ,

PBERVC'UT~I~JAE'SINSOI~ENCE.

Tllis old villaill grew positively impudent, talk-

ed about requiring a brace of slaves, and a matter
of two hnndred tomauns, and hinted that we
llad better make hi111 our friend. W e were
obliged to assist in loading the camels, no easy
work, for the spice-bags were very heavy ; and
t h e beasts, having dreadful wounds on their
'
backs, would twist their long necks round and

these animals was most offensive, and H confess

that I began to despond at the idea of slavery
among such people.
The whole of the second day we got no .
water ; and, the suil being hot, we begail to
suffer the misery of thirst ; we found, indeed,
a well i n the afternoon, blzt the water stunk.
1 could only coilceive t h t Peerw~llleehad a
bladder in his stomach, like a camel, for he did
n o t look a t all thirsty, but walked doggedly on
with t h e lending-string under his arm, scarcely
vouchsafing a reply to our requests that he
would seek for an oubeh. At last the choler
of my friend was roused, as we were being led
up and down some steep sand-hills ; preserving
with difficulty t h e equilibrium of our panniers,
a n d rising in his seat, lie launched a torrent of
invective at Peerwollee that. perfectly astound-
 If 2 ABUSED I N RETURN.

e d him. cC Hear me, old faithless," were his

words ; a are we dogs, or Jews, or Armenians,
that you should lead us about like asses over
your cursed desert, where there is neither lierl,
nor water? Answer me dog of 11- and ;LC-
cursed, is this your faith ? Was i t for this I held
you by the beard ? and do you think to come
off free ? No, by Allall ! if there's a curse in the
world : toof !-I spit upon you, you old beast."
Just then we got sight of solme far-off camels,
and told Peerwullee to make for them. I-Ie
assured us that they belonged to Jaffer Ifis,
who were enemies, and would rob us; but,
being curious to see the contrast between their
enmity and his friendship, we insisted upon his
going to them, and, by using the only arguzneilt
that p s e v d e d with him (threatening to sboot
him), vde induced him t o obey 11s. We found
two tents, belonging to a party who were on
their march, but they told us of an ot~belltc13
ivliles off, and, by nine at night, we reachcd a
JaRer 13i' camp' of forty-five tents, pitched in
the form of a long horse-shoe, u n d c ~n IiigIl
ridge of sand-hills. The space bctwcen was
nearly filled with camels, old and young, ant1 thc
whole looked very pictul-esque in t l ~ cinooll-
light. T h e camp was called tlie Cazcc's ou1,cll.
Tl~erewas a soand of justice in tllc Ilalnc of
 THE CAZEE'S O U U E ~ I .

Cazee, and we desirecl to be talcell to his teat ;

b u t Peerwullee liad ascertained that one of his
own (Otaboi) tribe had ~narriedinto this one,
and he had sent on a messenger, he said, to an-
riounce that we were coming to be guests in
his tent. T h i s was a young mail, Ai Doguedi
nlc i;o cc,~trtt by name : he caine out and gave us tlie IChosh
Geldin, and at his order soine rice-milk was set
before us, a y o u ~ l g11egr0 slave girl o f i c i a t i l ~ ~
for her mistress, who was sick. Having beell
in a great measure witllout ineat or dl+inlcf01.
two days, even this sour mess tasted very good

tween t . 1 ~ ~I': - i inany who came to loolc a t us had satisfied

their curiosity and rethecl, we lay down to sleep
outside the tent.
9th.-Qur servant went to try and seduce
the Cazee, but he sang the old song, that w e
10 ~ e r cc 1 were Peerwtillee's guests. A i Doguedj, our
oubeli t - i - 8 1 new host, was next sounded, b ~ i tthough lie
reacliecl ; h seemed willing to serve us, he said that he could
not do so in opposition to Peerwullee. The
latter was anxious to get us away agaiu, but,
t w e e l ~xv;r s hearing tliat t w o Astrabad merchants were ex-
pected in camp, we determined .to relnaili at all
the m o c r ~ r r - events, a n d said. (wliat iudeed was tlle trutli)
ee's o u l ? i ; = l ~ , that we were unwell lkom 1,rolic11 rest :uid
? name? r sf' want of food, ailcZ tliaf; wc ~ro~ilcl
reinitin sot~lc
 T I - ~CAZEE'S OUBEH.

days as Ai Doguedi's guests, to recruit. To

the latter we offered a carte bbnclte for his
assistance, and so011 had the satisfaction of sec-
i n g that he was rogue enough to deceive his
friend. W e told him that if he wished for thc
I
merit of serving us, he must send away Peer-
s ?I!r wnllee, and detain us a few days; and t h i s he
, *I
11, effected by persuading our guide to g o in search
1

11 ,;: of BBbek's oubell (where he hinted we sEiould

,. d n~-.
a
. -- -
be more safely lodged), while he would take us
with him to the station they were about to
march to.
 DEPARTURE OF PEERWULLXE. 115
EH.

to recruit. I
6Zawche for
*o
$4
tisfaction of scQ,
h to deceive iIi9
~ewislied for k h g
;end away Peel.,
iys ; and this lid
.e to go in seapcb
iilted we s h o u l d
le would take
, were about to
 EFFECTS OF SUPERSTITION.

i n g his chin up@n hjs hand, fixedly staring at:

us, ancl at last decided that 1was talking ROOS.
TT\Te assured him that i t was Hindoostal~ee,
but like Hans Van Pelt, he only shook his
head ;-" and, there a general shaking of
]leads tliroughout the assembly." Still we
mere not treated with any particular incivility ;
and my friend, with the great ability which he
possesses of accom~nodatinghiinself to the dis-
positions of those among wlion~ be chances t o
be thrown, set himself quietly t o create a, coul7-
ter-feeling, by working on their superstition.
, ,
I-Te assumed the air of a punctilious theologian,
tallied about Mecca Shereef, and took the heads
of the compaily to task for their inattention Lo
certain prescribed ol.dinances of the S o o n ~ e e
creed; hinting that out of such megligences
arose the evils which enabled infidels (on whom
God's curse !) to strike *at the root of t h e true
faith. T h e good effect of this conduct w a s
immediately apparent ; for, when he p r o d u c e d
a large black book upon the ortllodok f o ~ n a sof
devotion, and begail t o peruse it, t h e
whole assembly remained respectfully s i l e n t
until he deigned to look up, and then an old
man of the party lnodestly begged a charm f o r
a sick cam el.
The women also, when they could s p a r e a
inomeilt from t l i e i ~inally labours, c a m e to
 DEVOTIONS IN THE OUBETI.
t~*il~
iit g
satisfy their curiosity, bringing with them their
1 g ~ ~ 1 ~ 1 1 , ~ ~ .
unweaned cbildren, and performing for them,
sans c d ~ t ~ ~ z o all
~ z ithose
e , little affectioaate offices
of which mothers are so prodigal to their off-
spring. Many of them were Like any thing
but women; but whatever case you put a
woman's heart into, it is always the same, fill1
of goodness and charity. The mother of our
host, seeing tlint I relished but indifferently
t~ttc'(l~t(1 1 the sour rice-milk offered 1.1s in the morning,
ii C I ~ I I I ~ - baked bread, and set it before me with fresh
*rstitir)~~, milk, and the little rlegro slave-girl was con-
til~uellyendeavouring to show us kindness.
This evening, rather to our astonishment,
I
we discovered that the whole oubel~were very
regular in their devotions. The women sa;d
their prayers'at tlieir tents, and most of tlie
Inen ranged themselves in a long file behind
the Cazee." M y friend took care to be pro-

" Tlie way in wl~icliall Mooselmauns pray. Apeisl~ncim.dz

(or leader of the prayer) stai~clsout in fiontgf afile of men,
and goes thro~igh tlle lnotions like a fugleman. This is a
post of lionoar, and many and bitter are the jerllousies that
mingle with the more devout feelings of two rival doctors of
divinity. Whom do you pray behind? is a questioll often
asked, and a Persian desirous of currying favour with a
Moollii, will u~iblusliinglytell him that therc's TIO rl~!st.r.ihi~,!y
the dilferencc betwccil prayi~~g aftor lii~na!ltl Moollli SLlcll
a one.
 :
i
118 ROMANTIC SCIIEME.
I
ended, endeavoured to gain the good opillioa~
of the peish namgz, by addressing a few w o r d s
@
of compliment to him ; but he was i n t e r r u p t e d
in consequence of the arrival of the t w o ex-
pected merchants from Astrabad, w h o m the
Cazee went to welcome as his guests. rflle
Syud got a few words with one of these a f t e r
Is, "$i 'f
dark, and learned that we were reported m u r -
]Ed\, ,k dered, and that the sons of Odekka were said
to be still ranging the desert.
This proved what we bed suspected to b e
these men's intentions: they had-given out a
report of our murder, to try the effect of t h e
announcement, in order that they m i g h t sell
us if our friends appeared resigned to our f oss ;
being prepared a t the same time to p r o d u c e zxs
as saved from the attack of the p r e t e n d e d
J&er Bl party, in case it sllould appear t b a t
we had patrons influential enougll to cause
annoyance to their relations on G o o r g a u n .
T h e certainty of this made us determine t o
~ i s kany thing rather than put ourselves in
their hands again, and one of the least rom:ln-
tic of our schemes was purcllasing a t e n t anti
a few camels, and becoming clenizens of tlle
Jaffer Bi's, until our friends should lriccl-
,
sLzres altogether to release us.
11th.-The tents had been p r t l y s t r i p p e d
the night bgfore, a11d with the earliest dWrl
 JOURNEY RECOP~.IMENCED. 119
the whole camp was i11 motion. T h e tents were
struclc and packed on the roaring camels, the
women performing nearly all the labour, abus-
ing their beasts and screaming t o each other:
very old women and young chilclreil were
stowed away between numinuds, and balanced
by various articles of donlestic furniture ; and
nfter half-an-hour of bustle and noise that no
description co~ddgive an idea of, we fell in and
n~aschedaway. T l ~ e r ewere (old and young)
six hundred camels to the forty-five tents, aud
two thousand sheep ancl goats. W e toolc one
line of march, and the slieep were driven ahead
by tliemselves. The women led the camels
on foot, and the men, on horses, on
a11 sides at a great distance.
Notliiag could well be conceived more wild
or picturesque than this scene ; the gipsy-like
elfish-looking creatures called women, stepping
resolutely out, leading their strangely laden
camels, by the side of wliich the young ones
trotted. tVc brouglit our camel alol~gsideof
the two Persinzis, ~ v l i owere on horseback, and
11nd a most comft~rting confab with them.
They clesired us to ci~largeour hearts, and eat
no SOITOW, for that, by our heads a i d the life
of tllc Shal~, they would get US out of the
lln~lilsof tlicsc dogs w i t l i o ~ ~religion."
t \Ve
tllllouglit tllcy l)romisc(i too i n t ~ c lbut
~ , tlic voicc
 120 AGA MOHUMMUD CAUSSIRil.

of a friend was cheering, and, though tlley

were most raggedly at tired, we conceived tlin t
it might be discretion not to wear good clotlles
among such a people.
Aga Mohuminud Caussim, or as his -n:Lme
was shortly pronounced, A' Mo'mud C~~r-rssim,
the worst dressed, but still the most respcct:lblc
looking of the two, assured us that his llollsc
had used many arguments to iilduce I l i t ~ ? to
defer his trip to the desert, but that hc Iiad
felt an irresistible impulse urging him from
home, and that, cc Inshallah," it was n o t for
&
-. --,. -.--
nothing. They were guests of the Cazee, t l ~ e y
I said, who, for their sakes, would serve us a s far
as lay in his power; and there was sonletlling
so hearty in the spirit of free-masonry (if I
may dignify Sheahism with the term) wit11
which they set about procuring the Syud't;
release, that we could not help feeling s a n g u i n e
about the result. Abdoollah, or (as 11c now
insisted ~lpon being called among onmelvcs)
Meshed-e-Norouz, was a changed man : ltis
spirits had been broken by hard labot~t- a l ~ d
sorrow, bnt now his joy lcnew no bounrls.
" Hei Kaufir !" was his coiltinual exclamc~tilrn,
" murdered, they declared us ! ! but pleosr: (:od
we'll b u m the fathers of them yet ;" s c ~ i ! i
broder, Jan-c-mu11 !" c c 0 brother ! my life ! I ~ u t
 ---_ , VwU_--m-.TT--- 1-- , - ,- 7 - I.

JOURNEY CONTINUED.
gb they I get us back to the Hummaurn* of Astrabad,
ved that;
3 clotl~es 1, ,_
and if I put foot among your Toorltmuns again,
say, His father was a dog.' "
W e marched about twelve miles aortb, but
t i s nalme did not pitch tents at our ground, merely set-
C~~ssirm. ting up two pieces of the stickwork, and throw-
;pectable irlg a nummud over them, to avoid the hot
I
is house rays of the sun. Viclettes were set early in
him to the evening, and, except by the occasional bark
h e hadl of a dog, the deep silence of the camp was not
i l n fi-on3 broken till dawn, when the tumult of the day
not foi* before drove away every idea of sleep.
:ee,they 12th.-This day we marched somewhat more
us a s far than twelve miles to between two high ridges
mething of sand, where the tents were pitched. W i t h
-t*y(if 1 the exception of one heavy piece of wood,
forming the top, that required to be held in the
air awhile b y four persons, the tent was put
anguhle together by the little negro girl ; and, as for
h e IIOW I
neatness and comfort these tents suipass all
Y
zrselves) others, I may here give a description of them.
a n : his Four pieces of frame-work (made of light
~ u r
alld sticks loosely pivoted on each other, so that
bounds. they may be drawn out, or together, at plea-
;1ation,
n ,I suret) are set up in a circle of twelve feet dia-
I
a s e God +
* Bath.
cc A-i !
,I' Like the toy of rnovcable soldiers, or ladies' " lazy
fe ! b u t
 122 DESCRIPTION OF 11 TOORICMUN TENT.

meter, place being left for the lintels of a

wogden door, To the top of this frame are
tied the ends of many long pliant sticlts, wllicll
bend up in the shape of a dome, and are fixed
in a circular hoop of wood, which forins the
to13 and the cliiinney of the tent. Over this
slceletoa work are laid large clotlls of thiclr
black felt : they are raised on forlced sticks,
tied round the dome, and kept close by a broad
band, which goes round the centre of the
whole. Not a pin or a pole is required for
these tents, they are roomy, and a defence
against all weathers, and one is no more thaii
a load for a camel.
I certainly thiiilc that a hint might be talcen
from the Toorkmuns in this particulal; and
that tents something after this fashion might
be contrived, better adapted for military pur-
poses than those which we use. A large camp
could be pitched in a small space, be better
defended, and not so easily set on fire ; felts
will burn to tinder rather than blaze, and they
itre in a great degree waterproof. I n India
especially, where troops frequently arrive at
stations at which there are no clua~tersfor t11e1~1,
these tents would be invaluable; soldiers lnigllt
be out at all seasons undc.1. sucli covering.
This evening the Syucl. went in tlle company
 ;j-& ;
! '

VISIT TO TI-IE CAZEE.

of our Persian friends to see the Cazee : he

appealed to hirn in the name of their comiqon
religion, desiring him not to forget that a Cazee
'
was a man selected for his superior knowledge
and sanctity to see justice done; assuriilg him
that we had not been talcen in a chuppao, but
that we had come to Goorgann as guests, and,
consequently, that none of Orauz Iiouli's conc
nexions were justified in constraining our in.
t ~ t l - e of the clinations. T h e Persians not: oilly corrobo-
~t-equiredfor rated these assertions, but declared that our
a aefence friends, hearing that we had been prevented
from going to IChiva, were anxious for our re-
turn to Astrabad, and had solicited them to
rllt
3 be t a l c e n leave their hoines some days sooner than had
t i c u l a z - , and been their intention, in' order to find us and
~ h i o l lm i g l l t escort us back. The Cazee was perhaps aware
nilitary p u r - that his guests were stretching a point, but
large camp still they were his guests, and he felt bound t o
C, 'f>e better attend to their wishes. Perhaps, too, the Syud's
n fire ; felts speech roused a dignified feeling in him. He
ce, stnd t h e y expressed a willingness to see justice done us ;
Ii.1 I n d i a

for t h e m ,
31.5 . one of our friends should qet out for Astrabad
ldiers m i g h t on the morrow, and apprise our friends of our
r e r l ~ ~ g - situation ; but, to our great disappointment,
L ~ ccoplpany early next morning came Peeswullee, bringing
124 RETURN OF PEERWULLEE.

with hiin a boy, the son (he said) of Bhbek.

This, be thought, would show that he had
found the oubeh, but: h e was much discon-
certed when w e told him that we felt orrrselves
so comfortable where we were, that we would
remain. Ele protested loudly against the breach
of Toorltnlun honour in those who would escort
our messenger, and his departure was accord-
ingly stayed. Still Peerwullee could not force
us away : he sent off the boy with intelligence,
and remained t o keep watch over us.
W e had gained considerably up011 the good
opinion of this oubeh, a circumstance of which
our friends apprised us operating greatly in
our favour. W e learned that ill-blood existed
between the Otabois and Jaffer Bis, i n conse-
quencc of a quarrel of which I shall presently
speak; and t h e Syud, with a spirit worthy of
Machiavel, set himself to increase this feeling.
Whenever a party assembled round us (and it
was not often that we were alone), he cotn-
mcnced an attack upon Y eerwullee, lamenting
that a i?Iooselmaun, and a Toorltmun, should
behave so villanoudy, shaming his religion, and
bringing the hospit?lity of his col~ntryineilinto
reproach. '< If," he used t o say, " you 11ad not
~ ~ o ~ i r s e l vltnown
es the cowardly spirit of the
Otabois, you might not; believe that they named
 r-

PEERWULLEE'S CONDUCT ISXPOSED. 125

you Jaffer BYSas those who wished to rob and
inurder ~zs! Ullah ! that such men should call
themselves iP1ooselrnauns !"-He talked 1mbc11
of the dignity of the Prophet (Alaihissalaam !")
as violated in the person of his descendant, and
of the sure vengeance that would follow ; and,
c'i e s c o r t on the other hand, he uttered hard Arabic sen- '
!
tences, and used a n entire deer-skin in writing
o t force charms for the prosperous illcrease of man and
beast. T o the Persians the Syud addressed
the epithet of broder-e-deen-e (brother in re-
ligion), grieving for every hour speilt in tlie
society of dogs who worshipped the three first
caliphs, and be d-- to them.
exis tccf Abdoollah and I, not 'to be idle, practised a
I COIISC- little physic, and affected an interest in the
1-esc:tl t l y health of the children. One luclcy cure of in-
flamed eyes caused my fame to spread so ra-
pidly through the camp, that from every tent
sick were produced. JJTe mere astonished at
the great prevalence of disease : in the whole
oubeh there were few whose eyes were not par-
tially affected; there were some bad cases of
ophthalmia, a stone-blind old woman, and a rav-
i x ~ t , ~
1e1.1 ing madman. C~ztaneousdisorders and rheu-
IIELCXIICJ~; matism seemed to be common, and we saw
: c3f t l ~ k cases of lep~osyand elephantiasis. One child
7 1.1~~lllt.tl " God's peace be up011 him !
126 PREVALENCE OF DISEASE.

was brought to us who was a most extraordi-

llary object: on his legs and arms large ex-
crescences of bone had formed ; they were co-
vered like the other bones with flesh, and the
veins were carried over thein : the cl~ild's
health and spirits did not seem t o be affected,
and he had the use of his limbs. The mother
of this hobgoblia wished me to work an imine-
diate cure upon him, but I made him over to
the Syud, who gave him a promissory c h a m
at two rnontlls' date ; and Abdoollah, calcrxlat-
ing that we should be free or disposed of be-
fore then, proinised the old blind woman a re-
covery at the same period. We gained ovcr
all the women, who, to do them justice, were
grateful for the apparent interest we took in
their offspring. Some brought presents of
Koussoulc, a root 1.ilte a radish, but very sweet,
which is found in the desert, and which the
Toorkmuns dry in the sun, and eat as a dainty.
The mother of our host, whose heart I had won
wit11 an embrocation of hot vinegar for her
lumbago, begged me to seixain her guest for
any period, rather than go with Peerwullee, of
whoin she expressed her bad opinion by a very
significailt gesture. This old lady and I con-
versed after the manner of Inkle and Yarico,
m d managed to understand each other adini-
 INFLUENCE OF THE CAZEE. 12'7
rably, as our signs were chiefly used to express
civilities. The little negro girl, who, having
lately been bought in Persia, understood tile
language of that country, used to listen to
Peerwullee's conversations and translate them
to us ; and, little as the Tartax ladies are said t o
guide their husbands' actions, we found t h a t
they were not without a share of that indirect
influence wlliclz the soft sex every where exer-
cise over t h e lords of the creation.
The great thing in our favour was, that i t
was more t o the advantage of these men t o
serve than t o injure us ; and, as no people me
inore keenly alive to their interests, they suf-
fered themselves to be p$rsuaded that we were
ill-used persons. The Cazee was completely
brought round t o our side. He was at first
acrupulous about receiving any favoul; but i t
was thought expedient to get the better of his
delicacy; a n d we were able to persuade him to
accept of a turban for himself, scarfs for his t w o
wives, a sash for his son, and oile or two other
articles, worth in all about fifteen tomauns.
As he could read and write, hc had acquired
that consequence which the ignorant generally
give to a man of extra learning, and lie had be-
sides a strong party of relatioi~s,who were dis-
posed, for kindred-sake, to suit their own wishes
 to his. H e was the best Toorkmun specirllell
we inet with ; a mild, kind-hearted old 111al1,
and, in spite of their unwillingness to allow all
authority above their own, looked up to b y tllc
majority of the camp. Every spring, lie said, a
party went to the d t t r u k river to sow jougc~6*
and inelon seed on the alluvial banks ; a set
were tlleil about to go, but he would delay
their departure, and do his best to send us with
them : if not, the Persians should go and worli
our release at Astrabad.
Peerwullee had a hard time of it, for he hat1
only one staunch ally in camp (another Otaboi
who lived next tent to us, and who, to renilcr
him justice, proved his clanship by showing u s
particular enmity) ; 1;e felt that the Jilffer B'is
did not like him, and, not knowing how TVC
became acquaintecl with his conversations, 11c
superstitiously thought that the Syud cou1cZ
read his thoughts. A dozen times was 11o
frightened into coilsenting t o our retura t o
Astrabad, and as often, Penelope-like, woulcl
Ile unravel the webs wllich he cnuscd oui-
friends to weave with so inucll industry, by
starting a fresh difliculty. Exis object was to
gain tiinc, but the sowiilg party, wllo wcrc .
anxious to be golie, bccamc lu~gryat his ill-
* I-lolcus sorghum (jawarrce).
JIl'10 N . CAZEE INVITED TO DINNEIL. 1 89
k a i u r ~ sI)ecilllell consistency, and frankly said that if hc did not
.!arted old man, make up his mind they would depart, and take
ricss t o a l l o w all the Persians with them, since the latter at least
cd u p to by the were free to come and go, ancl they could not
pring, llc s a i d , a prevent their telling what story they pleased at
to sotv ,jou7gun * Astrabad. Peerwullee was alarmed, but still not
t l b a n k s ; a set quite persuaded. Seeing what a favourable
le ~ v o r l l d delay
effcct our presents had produced, we deter-
to s e n d LZS with mined to establish our character by getting the
lcl g o a n d work Cazee to give us the honour of his company at
dinner. There were difficulties in the way of
f it, f o r h e had this, for it was the part of our host to give the
[nnotller Otaboi feast; and, though he was inclined to assist us
W ~ O ,t o render
from motives of personal interest, he wished to
by s h o w i r x g us
do it in his own way, and was rather impatient
tl lc S a f e r 1 3 s of the Cazee's interference. 1 3 s jealousies,
v i EIOTV we
however, were happily got the better of, and
~ l v c r s a t i o n s , he
we persuaded him to kill a sheep, and provide a
c S y ~ i dcould
bag of rice, the merchants engaging to bring
t i l n e s w a s he
him a plentiful supply if he did not himself
our r c t u r u t o
accoinpany us to Astrabad, where, they hinted,
pc-like, w o u l d
there would be better things than rice for him.
le c a r ~ s e a our
W e took care to have it known what guest we
i ~ i d sut r y , b y
expected, and, after sunset prayers, to receive
o b j e c t w a s to
the Cazee and some of his most intimate friends
'ty, w h o were ,
with as much ceremony as we could throw into
gry a t h i s in-
our manner; for the inore honour we showed
'el.
him, the g~eaterof course was the reflection of
VOL. I. I<
130 TIlE ENTERTAIN RIENT.

it up011 ourselves. I say we, because l was a

party concerned, not that I took by any means
a prominent part in tlie ceremonies. The Cazee
hardly noticed the very humble salute that 1
made lmim, by crossing my hands up011 my
breast and bowing; and 1 was glad to talte a
low seat, and to leave the labour of cntcrtain-
ing lliin to one so well versed as the Syud in all
the minutiz of etiquette. Little is needed
among Toorkmuns, but the Cazee had travelled
into Mawam-oon-nuhr, and studied three years
at Bokhara Shereef, and was not t o be treated
h I'orclilzai~e.
We were in all a party of eighteen. A little
preliminary conversatioll was carried on before
the pilau was brought, in which the Syud dis-
played his own learning, writhout detracting
from that of thc Cazee. EIe produced llis book
upon the Soonnee forms of' devotion, and, in
remarking upor] snc ordinance, gave a ]Long
Arabic quotation that absolutely straclr the
party dumb. The Gazee turned t h e book a11
ways, dipped into parts of it with pretended
intimacy, and then, ~.eturniagit wit11 reverence,
said wit11 n modest siglm, that he was a poor
Cazee, but his father- lmis fathcr had cor-
rected a book froin begii-rning to end ! The
Syud wit11 great skill drew -out the old man's
 VT. 1 TIIE CAZEE AND TIIE SYUD. 13 1
J e c a e a s e 1 was a
b y a n y ~ncnlls small stock of knowledge, leading off with one
of tl~osescraps of poetry, which every one who
lies, T l i e Cnxcu
lires been where Persian is spoken is familiar
e S E t l t that ~ t ~1
with, leaving him to finish it, so that the old
lands U ~ ) O U111~
man at last conceived that he really had studied
t o tnltc a
to some purpose, and, his little eyes brightening
,llr of cntcrtnin-
up, he began to look most kindly on my friend.
, t h e S yud in all
Nozcs aut~es,tve sat upor) our heels in a drcle,
,ittIe i s lleedccl
wonder-struclc at the discourse of two such
ee h n d travelled
wits, but longing for the idtroductiotl of less
d i e d t h r e e ycnrs intellcctual food, the savoury steams of ~vllich
3t to b c trcntcd
were occasiondly blow11 in upon us. There
was little ceremony about the ineal : pilau was
htecz3. A little broizgllt in large wooden bowls, into which
, r r i e d o n before hailds were thrust as soon as the Cazee had said
:11 thc Syud dis- Bislnillah ! and there was nothing left in them
holr t dctrncting to show t l ~ a tthe food was not approved of. A
~ d u c e c his i b001i large bicker of chaal went round, from whicli
? v o t i o t 7 , nll('i, ill all drank, and then the Cazee said an Arabic
:gmve a long grace, all raising their palms the while, and
.ely s t n l c l c tile stroking down their beards at the conclusion
tll c boolc all of it. The Cazee retired as he had come, and
wit11 prctendc~l the Persians who accoinpanied hiin to his tent
wit11 1-evcrencc, assured us that 11ehad formed a rnvst favourable
ha w a s n 1mor opiilio~iof the Syud,
a t h e r bnd tor- 16th.-This morning, what with promises
to e n d ! ! t ' l ~ and threats, Peerwullee was persuaded t o con-
; t h e old man's sent to our return to Astrabad. The Syud
I< 2
 132 PE$RWULLEE'S SUPERSTITION.

tool< hiln ill the lnood before the Cazee, but

tllere jilted us again, saying doggedly, that
we were the guests of 11is friends as well, and
that he must hear fro111 them before he con-
sented to our departure. The Cazee reasoned
with him, b u t to very little purpose, and he
appeared likely to get the better of us, wllen
the Syud exclaimed with a solemn but im-
passioned manner, " Well then, i t is evident
that this is a ma~l"withoutfaith OF religion, and
therefore I 'll bare my head, and hold up my
hands, and curse him, ,and his family, camels,
mares, and sheep, and all that does, or ever will
belong to him. Cazee-do you say Ailwen ?"
Peerwullee's superstition was not proof against
this; he hastened to deprecate such a horrible
list of calamities, and, kissing the Sy ud's bands,
declared himself willing to act as h e wished.
They gave him no time t o recover himself, but
wrote a paper, which be signed in presence of
the Cazee and the number of witnesses re-
quired b y the Rlohummudan law. It acknow-
ledged that we were free agents, and in it
Peerwullee agreed to accompany us to Astrabad,
in no respect to thwart our wishes. For
this we wrote that, out of our esteem for Peer-
, l~elleew , e would not demand back a n y part of
the money which we had paid him t o t a k e us
 I

N- ENTERTAINBD BY TEE CAZEE.

c a z e e , but to IChiva; and that we would not detain him
or his camels at Astrabad. There was no laclr
of distrust on either side, but we took each
ore llc con- other's professions for no more than they were
reasolletl ~vorth; and our object of getting away -wasac-
*Se, and llc complished. I'Ve at once hired three horses
f LIS, rvlle11 from Ai Doguedi, and engaged him to ac-
m~ but im- company Peel-wullee, lest he should make off
; Zs eviilciit with our baggage. I t was arranged that we
:el%gio~~,aild should set out that very night, as soon as the
. moon rose, and the Cazee invited us to n fare-
well dinner. T o give colour to the story of
or- ever will their having been sent for us, the Persians left
such of their wares as they had not disposed of
roof agniilst under their host's charge, and prepared to ac-
11 a llorrible company us, we agreeing to indemnify them for
y u d's l~ailds, a11 loss. Peerwullee and Ai Doguedi were sent
h e wished. off at once with the heavy baggage, and we
hixm self, but made small packages of our silks and shawls,
px0esence of which we fastened behind our saddles.
r i t r esscs
~ re- The Cazee's party was a small one, composed
It ackiiow- of p~~sselves,the Persians, and two of his own
, a n c E ill i t relations, whom he said he had selected, with
to 11s tr;~I):rd, three other trustworthy persons, to be of the
r i s h e s . For sowing party. I t was probable, he said, that a
?mfor l'ccr- party was on the look-out for us, but that, if
any part of they attempted to take us, those whom he had
1 t o takc 11s inentiolled would resist them. The JaEeiB'is .
 A FORMIDABLE PARTY.
than the
r w o u l d be ive llad reason to be satisfied with - the 'selection.
! he frankly Some carried implements for brealci12g the
d j spute, we grout~d,the largest of which was a long thick
piece of wood, to whicl~was afterwards fastened
:nc e s w o ~ l l d
a wooden share. W e distingnished the three
1 tribes was
111e1l mentioned by the Cazee, in conseqnence
1 Zn. We
of their being (as were his two relations) well
~ceably dis- a
mo~ui~ted and armed. Our Persian allies looked
h a m a safe
most valiant, with their long rnatchloclis~and
rged us to,
Y- innumerable cartouch-boxes, and Abdoollah
moon rose
declared that we might snap our fingers at
p e d camel's
any Otabbji party. W e rode a t a brisk pace
k i n k : the
ti11 daybreak, when we halted for prayers, and
3st- anxious
slept for two ho~zrs. ve found a pudclle of
the idea of
win-water some rniles beyond, and about two
fm appetite. I
in the aftcri~oonhalted for three hours at a
o u r lciad
ruined m u d fort. What had been the ditch
was cut into separate reservoirs for rain-water,
Lcgro slave and there was a well close by, the water of
'ode Oklt a arhicll lay, so near to the surface, that, lying o,n
w e halted
I
n ~ yface, P was able to take some up in the
palm of m y hand. It was not till the Toorlr-
inuns asked us for food that we found our-
selves to be unprovided with any, and we were
L Ywe had
3n3s faces,

our ~ n a s c till
l ~ darl(, we halted wllere tl~erewas
plenty of glass and n pool of water, and 1;~y
 EFPEC.TS OF AN INUNDATION.

ciowll to sleep ; but our rest was broken aftcbl*

two hours, alld we marched on till dawn tllc'
next morning, halted half an hour to graze our
Iiorses, and then rode on again till eight, whcri
w e arrived at the bank of the river Attruk.
The Caspian was not within view, but ziTt:
were told that the coast of it was eight miles
or so to our right. For nearly twelve miles
before we came to the Attruk, the grour~tl
wllicl~we rode over was sprinkled with little
white shells, ,such as are commonly found 0x1
a sea-shore. Tlle Toorkmuns said these shells
had been deposited eight years before by :111
inundation of the sea, of which there wcrc
marks two or three miles further inland. The
sky was clear, and the sun very hot; but,
thirsty as we were, we co~lldnot drink the
slimy water of the Attruk ; therefore, setting
up a cloth on guns and spears, we made shnc'e
enough for our heads, and lay down. T h e
Toorkmuns, I think, have the faculty of sleep-
ing and waking when they choose : those wllo
accompanied us were like dead men the momellt
their heads torlched the ground, and, awaking
after two hours' sleep that would have giver1
allybody else a brain-fever, exposed as we were
to . a hot sun, they shook themselves, all&
p k i i u a camel to their rude plough, begail to
 REAPPEARANCE OF PEERWULLEE. 137
brealc ground, and throw in seed as the fur-
rows were opened. Peerwullee, whom we had
passed on the road, came up after noon ; he
thought that we should only travel as far as
Attruk under escort of the sowing party, and
was at his wit's end when fie saw that five of
them were about to go on with us. cc W h a t
have I done," he exclaimed, " that five Jaffer
13s should step in between me and my guests?"
latnenting as if he had been engaged in the
most laudable worlc possible. A i Doguedi too,
who was not aware of the extent of the Cazee's
plan, was out of humour because he had not
been let into the secret, so that we did not
expect that he would take great pains to bring
Peerwullee to the Jaffer Bi camp on Goorgaun,
to which our Persian friends proposed taking
us ; llowever, our great object was to get back
to ilstrabad : so, saying a few promising words
to A i Doguedi, and taking civil leave of the
sowers, we forded the Attruk, and rode on
south.
It was four in the afternoon when we left
the A t t r u k : we slept for two hours in t h e
early part of the night, but, rain coming on, we
continued our journey. Our road now lay
for the most part over fine grass land : it rained
incessantly all night, and we were thoroughly
138 FORDING TIlE GOOIIGAUN.

soaked, but thc sight of the Elborz mountains,

Rleshecl-e-Norouz said, made him feel quite
comfortable. T h e camp we looked for had
chal~gedgro~ulcl,and we kept along the Goor-
gaun some distance in search of it. This gave
us an opportunity of observing how tl~icltly
the Toorkmuns were encamped upon its banks.
Onr Persian friends seeined t o be known by
everybody, and from several of the oubehs
which tve passed, acquaintances came out to
speak to theim. TIiey seemed siarprised t o see
us, and congratulat.ted us on our safety, for the
report of our inurder was very general ; knd, on
asking the llews froin Astrabacl, my companion
lincl tllc satisfaction of lc,zriliag t l ~ a tlie
t Vuzeer
llad declal-cd. the lcilling a Syud to be arm atro-
cio~asact.
%%Thenwe this time forded the G o o r p a n ,
thc water was deep : half o w saddles were
under water, and not only were our great boots
filled, but our ~nerchandise was wetted and
damaged. T h e name of our friend's friend
was Wullee : he was out, but we were kindly
received by liis wife, a large good-natured look-
ing woman, who was superintellding a dozen
girls, most of them wit11 marriage caps on,
wlio were seated carding wool. A large fire
was inade on the hearlh, and we sat down by
 lountail~s, it to dry ourselves, while a cauldron of rice-
eel quite milk was being boiled. Meshed-e-Norouz, in
for had a fit of extravagant happiness, produced two
;he Goor- cakes of sugar (all tl~stremained of our store),
il'his gave and threw them into the boiling mess ; upon
r thickly which the Syud heard one of our escort say to
its banks. a companion, " H e is an Elchee."" This is
now11 by a trifling incident, but i t sl~owshow watchful
oubehs a traveller sho~lldbe in these countries, where
e out to his every action is coinmcnted upon. Two
;d to see cakes of sugar were actually of no great value ;
T, for the but to Toorkmuns, who seldom tllougflt of
; and, on tasting such a refined sweet, the tllrowing
bmpanion them unconcernedly into a imess of rice-milk,
e Vuseer appeared to argue great wealtli on our part.
an atro- When TVullee came in, we hired three horses
from him, for Ai Doguedi had stipulated that
boorgaun, his were t o be taker1 no further, doubtless not
lles were without good reason. When a Too&mun sells
eat boots
- a horse to one of his own peoplc, he specifics
tted aild (if necessary) the places it is not to be taliell to ;
.'s friend a n d Lf the buyer neglects tlie caution, am1 the
bekindly animal is clairned at any one of tljem, tllc loss
red look- is his own. But if the sellci. does not warn a
a dozen purchaser against any place, and the 11orse is
caps on, tlicre proved a stolen onc, he must rcfund thc
 140 RETURN TO ASTRABAD.

Having yefreshed, and partly dried o u r s e l v e s ~

rvc gnve presents to our Jaffer B'i guards,
stal.ted for Astrabnd, under escort of o u r h o s t
JYullee and our two Persian fi<ends. T h e
distance from where this camp was itched to
the totvn was about fifteen miles ; but, o w i n g to
the badness and narrowness of the p t h s t h a t
we followed through t h e vrood, the ride OCCLI-
pied us nearly five hours and a half. 0~11s-h o r t
rest had only served to tighten our muscles, and
make us sensible of our fatigue : we were a l l s o
stiff and wearied that we could with difficulty
keep our saddles, and, when we reached t h e
llouse of A' Rlo'inud Caussim, we threw our-
selves upon the floor, and slept till noon t h e
liest day.
Hossein ICouIi Aga, we learned, and H h j e e
Rlotallib, were out in the desert searching f o r
us. On the evening of the day after our r e t u r n
they came in, both lookitlg very much t h e
mol.se for their journey, having been ( t h e y
declared) six days in the saddle, half the til-ne
in rain. Poor old Hhjee Motallib looked quite
hideoos; for, not having had an opportunity
of dyeing his beard for soine days, i t had be-
come piebald-deep orange upon grey stomps.
I-I~seyes were bloodshot ; water was dropping
froln evcrj: part of him, and the fatigue had
 SATISFACTORY EXPLANATION. 141

caused his old bones to ache SO, tllnt ~11~1-1 1 1 ~

sat down to have his wet boots talcell ofi', cvc1.y
p ~ ~called
l l forth a deep groan. Both oor friends
were at first much in the humour in wllich
Juliet's nurse returned, after her fatigue ill 11ur
charge's service : they said, that we Iiad b c c l ~
precipitate in leaving the party that Orauz
ICouli sent to serve us, flinging away our nloilcy
to relieve ourselves from an imaginary dallgel;
bringing a bad name on our friends, anil cslusii~g
them to fatigue tl-iemselves to death for us.
W e coaxed them a little, and, wlici-1 thcy llxil
dried and refreshed themselves, succeeded in
restoring thein to good 11~unoul;and convil~ced
them that we had been very fortunate t o esc:Lpc
from such rascally hands upon ally terms.
Istakour, we learned, had actually brought
our letter. On the receipt of it, Hosseiri ICouli
Aga and t h e old I'XLjee had ridden out t o Goor-
p u n , and interrogated Orauz I<ouli, who as-
sured thein tllat his l<insmm had &)one to our
rescue. N o t satisfied wit11 this (they said), they
took two or three Toorkmuns as a guard, allcl
rode to Istalrour's oubeh; but, unable to p i l l
further intelligence of us, elley retul.ned to
Orauz ICouli's camp, and there lnct JZoh izulnl [ I d
ICouli, who gave them oLlr letter, ~ ( ~ ~ ~ ~ ' s t i l l g
that money a i d provisioils might bc sent to us.
 h * .
2 A* *I

r-
P +

142 INCREnULOUS FRIENDS.

The pith of the postscript was lost upon them,

but, suspecting something wrong froin tlle kC
whole tenor of our epistle, they were about t o
set out again in search ~f US, when they learned
that we were comiilg to Astrabad with a party
of Jaffer Bis. They still seemed iiiclincd t o
believe Orauz Kouli's professions, and stated
their coiiviction that the man's kinsinen had
blackened his face by acting entirely against
the spirit of his orders ; but Allee IClian would
not allow t h e ~ nt o express a good opinion of
tlieir friend. cc The Toorkmuns," he said, were
a11 unbelievers and rascals, and no doubt Brauz
IConli was a t the bottom of the plot, if it did
not originate on this side of the border; and
the oi11y way to recover our property would be
to seize h i ~ nand sell him for what we had been
robbed of.'' This advice, we saw, was very dis-
pleasing lo Hosseiia HCouli Aga, so we begged
that the matter might rest till Ai Doguedi
shot~ldarrive with what remained of our mer-
chandise ; and, as the Khan's zeal was grounded
on the vanity of his great foresight, his tone
moderated when he had obtained a sufficiency
of credit for it, and we all dined very sociably
together.
Inaction, after the great labour of t h e last
fcw days, threw us all upon our backs : Me-
 I-

.lc?lll,
shed-e-Norouz and I took fevcrs;and tlie Syucl
tl1c complained of a general indisposition, that ]lad
t~lrnedhis liver into water, drawn his intestines
tight to his baclr, and otl~erwisecaused an un-
precedented revol~ztionin his system. But the
cl to hot bat11 recovered us all. On the second
atcd morning after our return, my friends made the

i11ad
ins t
buld ever, into which I had been admitted was shut
up fora week, in consequence of the defilelneilt
i t had undergone, and even the 1rind-rw.s~of my
friends was not altogether proof against their
prejudice. 1 was strictly enjoined, wIle11 in the
bath, not to touch the doors with my hand, but
to call the scrubber, when 1 sho~lldbe let out.
The barber came to me for an extraordinary
gratuity, for having shaved iny head in direct
violation of his religious principles.
On a second occasion, when I made use of
r l cir- this luxury, a regular turmoil wasexcitecl ; for
rlcd the wife of one of the little p e a t men at the
;011c
Ilcy
~bly
144 REI,IGIOUS PREJUDICES.

3!loolli, as to what degree of iinpurity tlie hum-

inaum had contracted in collsequellce of my
visit, and how inany days might be considered
sufficient for its purificatioa. T h e Moollii,
though a bigoted man, knew t h e law in this
instance, and decided that as there was much
lnorc than the requisite length, breadth, and
depth of water in the cistern, I could not defile
it ; and that with regard to the walls, such
parts as I had touched nligl~tbe made clean by
dashing water on them. Our kind friend the
Iiliall was very indignant at the f~lssmade, and,
protesting that his townslneil were unlearned
asses, declared that I sllould bathe whenever I
had a rnil~dt o do so ; bn t, though the ASooU&s'
verdict exculpated me, I tl~oughti t best to avoid
offendir~ganybody, and did not go again.
Moolld Nusr Oollah, who propounded the
law i11 my favour, had a special care for his own
conscience ; for, coming to visit his old' friend
thc Syud a few days after, he expressed a wish
to see a tl~ermometer. I took down one and
gave it him, and he regarded it with much
intcrcs t ; but, on retlirlling it, he went t o a small
reservoir, and washed his hands, lest, as he told
the Syud, any moisture inight have been on
lnil~ewhen I gave him the instrument. The
eldest son of tlie heir-apparent to the throne
 PERSIAN BIGOTRY. 145
of Persia, is so bigoted a man that, on his re-
ceiving as presents a gold chroiloineter and a
velvet chail; he ordered them to be purified
by immersion in water. But before I say Inore
about Persian maliners, I: would devote a chap-
ter to a few reinarlrs on the inhabitants of the
desert, the many accounts which we received
regarding whom, we were able to correct by
what we ourselves observed among them.
 CASPIAN DESERT.

passed Meshed-e-Misreaun and Cheen Mohum-

inud : to the latter place, they said, they made
eight days' journey ; beyond, to Hhiva, twelve
days. At Cheen Mohumn~udthey laid in a
supply of water for tl~reedays, and they found
the country beyond more sandy than that from
Astrabad. Some said that they went in fewer
days : twenty, by all accounts, are the greatest
number necessary. The country being plaiil, a
more direct road might doubtless be talcen from
Astrabad, but the Yinloots are at enmity with
the G6111ans, and cl~ooseas much as possible a
road through the country irlhabited by their
own tribe. W e marched day and night, halting
as we found fit spots to graze the camels on.
Of the hundred and twenty-seven hours that
we were on the road from Goorgaun to Cheen
Mohummud, we marched eighty-four hours,
and halted forty-three. The Syud and I both
noted the time carefully by watches, and I think
we were justified in laying it down as a rule,
that caravans march nearly two hours for one
that they halt :laden camels advance at the rate
of about two miles and a half an hour, so that,
if the number of days' march can be ascertained,
the ciistance may be very nearly guessed.
The Caspian desert is generally of a light soil,
5 white, and iilcliiled to be sandy, yet so firm, that
 SOIL OP THE DESERT.

in dry weather camels barely leave the print of

their feet upoil jt. This soil p1'odllc'es light
thorns and weedy bushes, ~ n u c hof the juicy
camel-thorn, a root like the stem of a ville
called taokh, and stunted tamarislc bushes ;
and in pats spring patches of coarse @ass$ Pro-
bably where water is near the surfwe. Much
of the ground is hard, and quite bare, sllowillg
occasionally patches of salt, doubtless the cause
of the sterility. A third feature is the sand :-
this is either spread loosely over the plnin, or it
is gathered in broad ridges, which assume some
consistency. Near such spots the Toorkmuns
prefer to pitch their tents : their camps are
more private and sheltered, aild good water is
found at no great depth.
TVe satisfied ourselves that it would not be
difficult for a power stronger than the'Toork-
muns to reclaim a considerable portioil of this
waste'inland from the coast. Much of tile soil
(that especially between the rivers Goor-gaull
and Attruck) is good, and water is to be hacl.
for little labour. The Russians have been long
supposed to have an eye upon this quartel;
wit11 a view to the invasioil of l<lliva : there
need be little doubt of their wish to exteIld
their power wherever they can, and tliey have
the best possible excuses for carrying their a l n s
among the noxious hordes who occupy tile
 POLITICAL VIEWS OF RUSSIA. 149
desert eastward of tlie Caspian ; for, though I
do not anticipate the entire revolution in the
trade of Asia, and "the shaking to its very
centre the enorinous commercial superiority
of the dominators of the sea," which Moravieff
predicts as consequent upon the taking of Ichiva
by his countrymen ; still there can bc little
doubt, that if the Russians should succeed in es-
tablishing their authority at the above-mention-
ed place, they would gain great commercial and
political advai~tages: and the inere circumstance
of some hundreds of their people being in the
worst state of slavery there, might induce them
to attempt its reduction, (not that I think it
would, apart from the consideration of political
contingencies). Since the days of Peter the
Great, when Prince Bekowitch (who was sent
with a party in seam11 of the gold dust which
was supposed to lie on the banks of the ancient
Oxus) was billed, and his skin made into a
drum by the Tartars, we do not hear of any
direct attempt on the part of the R~lssiansto
establish themselves on the eastern coast of the
Caspiaa ; but they certainly have cultivated a
very good understanding with the Toorkmuns
who dwell along that shore, who being settled,
and profiting from their intercourse with the
foreigners, have not that jealous hatred of them
which theil* inlarrd brethren entertain for those
150 SPECULATIONS OF RIIORAVIEFF.

who they thinlc would deprive them of their

mucll prized liberty ; and, whether directly
throug11 these tribes, or through the ineans of
the Persians, I confess it woulcl not greatly
astonish me to hear of the Russians causing
Meshed-e-Dlisreaun to be re-occupied, or some
other conveniently situated spot near the coast
to be inhabited.
Moravieff, some years ago, talked sanguinely
about marcl~ingto capture IChiva, and revolu-
tionise Tartary, with three tllousand Inen : but
I do not read that he made any arrai~gements
for communicating with his countrymeil even
in case of success. He speculates upon several
very uncertain aids, and, in my humble opinion,
his plan is ratlier a romantic one. The Toork-
muns being greatly divided among themselves,
some of them might be induced to assist the
Russians, for interest is a first, principle with
them ; but they are quite as treacherous as
greedy, and tllough they would perhaps assist
t h e invaders so long as they had the best of it,
they would turn upon them in case of areverse.
W i t h respect to the corn muaication between
the Caspian Sea and IChiva, it is interrupted
in summer by the great heats, which render the
passage across the desert a serious undertaking;
and the road may be said to be open for only
 nille and a half in the year, i. e. froin
the middle of August till the cornmencelnellt
of June. I n winter these plains are travelled,
alla the snow that lies on them obviates the
necessity of carrying water. From the 26th of
Apl-il t o the 19 thof May, the themometer(in the
shade at n o o n ) ranged from 76"to 8ODFahrenheit.
One day it rose to 844 but there was usually a .
ligl~w t i n d stirring, and the nights were cool.
H a v i n g alluded to the supposed view of the
Russians in 'kartary, I would here offer a11
opinion upon t h e question of their ability to
men even establish their autl~orityon the Oxus. I have
on several said that I conceive it practicable for them to
form a settlemerit on the east coast of the
Caspian ; and I do not see reason to doubt their
being able, at the favourable season, to march
a proper force across the desert to I<ltliva. Tlle
Toorkmurns, tllougl~snperior irregular cavalry,
are not an enemy who could offer effectual
opposition to disciplined troops, and IChiva
a reverse.
from Mr. Moravieff in thinking that the Rus-
sians c o u l d sustain tl~einselvesthere tllrougll
the partial influence of Toorlcniun tribes. I see
a much more likely way of their attaining their
object by means of the Persians, ~vlioinin pro-
cess of time tlxey lnny p ~ ~ sonl l in rnore direc-
152 POWER OF TI-IE TOORICMUNS.

tions than one, to serve their own purposes.

ICarazin was a Persian province in the time of
Shah Isnlael SGfi," (1 may say so late as in the
reign of Nadir Shall) and if ally energy were
introduced into the Persian councils it might
again become so.
The Toorkmuns have, I think, obtained credit
for more independent strength thail they actu-
ally pctssess. They have not, as many imagine,
unrestrained range over the desert; for not
only the great tribes, but all the petty divisions
of them, have their understood limits ; and con-
sidering how inai~ycattle they possess, and how
" Tile early accounts of ICarazm tell the reason of its
name. Towards the end of the Paishdaclian dynasty, Af1.a-
siab, king of Tool-an, invaded and took Persia.' I-Ie was
driven out by ICai Kobad, the founder of the next, or
Icaianinn dynasty. ICai Khoosroo, the third king of t h e
latter line, crossed the Oxus, took Samarcand and Bolchara
fiom Afrasiab, and, next marching to engage that monarch's
son Sheidah, h e slew him in single combat, and called the
province in which he had fought Iiowurez~~a (easy victory).
T h e Arabiall collquest extended over this province, but
when the power of the Caliphs decli~led,it became indepen-
dent for a while. Mahmood of Ghuzni annexcd ICnmzm t o
his empire, and it passed from the hands of his sllccessors into
the possession of the Seljook kings. A t the death of Malelr
Shah (third Sooltaun of the Seljooks) A. D. 1092, Koth-
bodcleen, the Hiikim who h a d been placed over tlle pro-
vince, cleclared l~imselfan inclepcndent monarch, and founded
 KHAN O F ICI-IIvAI-1's AUTHORITY. 158
urposcs.
scanty is the vegetation of the desert, a con-
titnc of'
jecture may be hazarded that as many now in-
is ill tIlc:
habit it as it can support. Unable to raise grain
in this waste, they are dependent upon the
Persian frontier, or upon Hhiva, for their sup-
plies, and must of necessity come to terms with
crecli t
those who command them.
cy actll-
It appears from n!toravieff's estimate, (and as
inagirrt; far as we could learn i t is a correct one,) that
for ~ i o t the IChan of IChiva's authority is owned by
livisiulis about three hulldred thousand souls. Of these
l l l c l COll*
thirty thousand are Oosbegs, lords of the soil
by right of conquest : one hundred thousand
so11 oP if.; the Karazmian dynasty, wllicli eventually destroyed that of
lsty, A ti..t- the Seljooks. Chengis Khan put an clld to the Karazmian
I r e JViIG power, wrllen in 1218 he caused i t to merge in his immense
nest, or empire. I t appears that the province remained with his
Ig ol' tllc descendants about one hundred and twenty years, and then
1 15ol;harlt fell under the government of petty Oosbeg princes. I t is
morlarch'h next remarkable as becoming subject to Timour Lung, A . D.
:nllcd tltt. 1379. The famous Shall Bulcllt Sooltaun took it from
victory). Timour's descendants in 1498, but, he being defeated and
*inr.c, l j t ~ t slain i n battle twelve years afterwards, at Merve Shall
8 i~ltIq)c~t- Jehan, by Ismael SGfi, the province reverted to Persia,
;:ir:~x~n10 Again, two years afterwards, the people preferring the
l~sorfii l l l o Sooilnee creed to that of the Sheal~s,which Sllall Ismael
01' iJl!lIl-i, desired to establish anlong them, revolted, and sent to
2, K<llll- invite Ilbars Sooltnun Oosbeg, to come from Toorkestaull
tt1c1 11rtb m d rule over them. They proclaimed him Iring in 1512,
1 ii~utr(lutf and his clesccnclants liave since kept thc country.
154 TRIBES OF T H E DESERT.

are Sarts, t h e i~ihabitantsof tlie country before

the Ooslsegs took i t : t h e ICarakalpacks (who
are found chiefly to the south of lake Aral)
number as many ; and the remainder are Toork-
inons, a few I<ilil'gl~iz,'and some Taujicks, or
domesticated people of foreign extract. The
Oosbegs, plulning themselves only upoil their
warlike propensities, behave in an overbearing
manner to t h e other inhabitants of the country.
Between tlieln and the Toorkmuns there appears
always to have existed great jealousy : Abul-
ghazi IChan, the fourteenth Oosbeg Soolta~ul
after Ilbaiqs Khan, who reigned twenty years
over the Icarazm Toorlcmuns, details many
attempts on their part t o free themselves from
thc obligation of tribute, and the later accounts
of Moravieff and Meyendorq show that time
has not mucll amended their feeling of dislike to
their conquerors. The otlier subjects are by all
accounts much oppressed, and they nlight not
be sorry to cllange masters. The same cause
which led to Ismael Shah's losing Kmazm still
exists as an objection to t h e Persians recovering
the province ; but if t h e latter people were
organised, i t wonld not a;ail agaillst them.
T h e Persians, I need hardly say I think, are,
and long will be, a cat's paw in the hands of
the Russians ; and if the two agree t o destroy
 i

SPECULATIONS.
tl-y before the state of IChjva, they may cause great
xclrs (who chai~gesin the political condition of the neigll-
alee Aral) bo~lrillgcountries. I am not one of those who
~1-e Toork- think that the Great Bear will walk over all
L x j i ~ k s ,or Asia in half a dozen strides, for plans sllch as
Russia has gained credit for entertainkg re-
quire considerable time for their execution :
but, because it is the interest of the Russians to
extend their authority eastward, and because
they are much stronger than their eastern
neighbours, I conceive that they will labour
to establish what Baron 8I.eyendorff terms
Zyim$hence salz6tiziz.e de Za Rzdssie sur I'Asie
ce?zt?-ub;" and, by pushing on a power over
which they exercise a strong control, they
accoulits inay effect rnucla of their object, without in-
curring the odium which we should be ready to
attach t o then1 for openly extending their fron-
tier in the direction of our eastern possessions.
l i g h t not Such opinions as these which 1 have now
n e cause offered must be speculative, but, as the subject
a z m still is interesting, 1 give thein at the risk of being
thought a visionary. The complexion of ori-
ental politics is ever varying, but, in all cascs
st them. where European diplomacy is opposed to them,
the result may be nearly calculated. If the
Russian empire, as some predict, is to fall to
pieces, my theoly of course falls with i t ; but
 156 CHARACTER O F T I I E TOORICMUNS.

as Voltaire says, " C'est une etrange manie qlie

celle d'un polisson qui parle en maitre aux sou-
verains, et qui prkdit infaillibleinent la chute
prochaine des empires."
Of the Toorklnuii character, we were able I
believe to form a just estimate, from the opi-
nions of many who lived near thein, and from
our own experience. The Toorkmuns are like
other wandering tribes, fond of the name of
some virtues, but little inclined to forego their
own interests by following the spirit of them.
They profess tlie Soonnee Mohuinmudan reli-
gion, but, if they ever had a real regard for
any feeling other than superstition, avarice has
superseded it. They are i11 many cases guided
ir~oreby old custoln than by the ordinances of
tlie l/Iohwnmudai~law, though they are glad
of a text which they can turn to their own
purposes, and they give great latitude to the
one which autllorises tllem to make war upon
Ilaufirs. This has by degrees become so com-
mon a term with them, that they apply i t to
everybody but themselves : according to the
Sooniia," they may inalte slaves of iilfidels :
they look upon a Sheall in a worse light than a
Jew or a Christiail ; but, in tiines when admitted
infidels are scarce, they will not scruple to lay
hands on foreigners of their own sect.
 .. . -. . ..

.MUNS.
ANECDOTE OF A DERVEISE-I.
3
marlie que
~ j t r eczuX SOU- One Nufsauli Shah, a Soonpee Derveish, re-
lent la chute lated to the Syud how that, travelling in corn-

;were able I by a party of Toorkinuns, and taken prisoners.

The Affghauns made instant declaration of
their faith, but this so little satisfied their cap-
nuns a r e like tors, that they nearly beat them to death, curs-
t h e name of ing tliem for impostors; and the Derveish
forego their considered that he saved his life by professing
)isit of tl~etn. himself a Sheah. Me was taken to Bokhara,
i and, not being robust, was so1.d cheap to a Jew
nmudan reli-
there. Shortly after, he obtained his release
in a manner which deserves relation, as it is
I, avarice bas
highly illustrative of Eastern character. Ameer
H j ~ d e r(Toora), successor to the famed Shah
ordii~ancesof
Aforaud Beg, was then king at Bokhara, and
hey are glad
the Derveish, following'hiin to the mosque one
;o t h e i r own
Friday, took an opportunity, after prayers, of
i t u d e to tllc
mounting the pulpit from which mooll$s lec-
ture, and of haranguing the congregation to
3ine so ~0111-
the following purpose.-" There are two qua-
lities required for the good of inen in this
world; when you find them united in one
person, revereilce and serve that person as God
has commanded.-What are those two quali-
]en ailinittecl ties ?-the first is, the faculty of perfectly un-
:ruplo t o lay derstanding the IEorAn ; the second, the ability
ct. rightly to expound its ordinances, and to cause
158 SHAH MORAUD BEG*

thein to be obeyed. I have travelled into

illany coul~tries,but have only foulld one such
man : that man is-Ameer Hyder." Palpable
as was this flattery, it did not disgust the king,
fol; on ret~lrningto his palace, he sent for the
Derveish, who, on being led to the presence,
told his story so well, that the Shah exclaimed,
" Let my friends come forward to ransom this
inan of God." The obsequious courtiers, eager.
to merit sue11 a title, on the spot made a sub-
scription, which not only purchased the holy
inan's liberty, but left him a handsome surplus,
and the king was very gracious.to hiin so long
as he remained a t Bokhara.
The father of this moi~arch, Shah RZoraud
Beg, familiarly and par exceZlence, called Beg-
gee JAn, was a l h g whose eqvnal has not been
known since the days of the Caliph Omar,
whose character indeed he appears to have
closely imitated ; like him, ~ff'ectii~gto despise
the honours of sovereignty, and descending to
undignified and affected actions to display his
humility. He surrounded himself with a court
of devo~ltand learned doctors, to whose opinioll
he professed to bow, and, assisted by whom, lie
used t o sit in open durbar to judge the people
accordiag t o the principle of the Mohummud:~n
law. I n such assemblies, the party sat 011
 p:.

1,

CHARACTER OF MOEAUD BEG. 159

i;ravell.c~lin to goat-skins, which were ranged round the room,
f o ~ m do l l c sucll
der." l'alpal~lc
i s g u s t t h e king, in the faith. H e performed t11e most ine~iial
h e sent for t l ~ c offices: his kitchen establishment consisted of
t11e prcsencc, a wooden bowl, an iron cauldron, and some
j hah esc:l:lirnccl, eartl~enpots ; he made his own market, coolr-
ed his own p o t n z s feu, and when he had guests,
courtiers, cngcr went round himself to pour water on their
lot rnaclc il sub- hands, and ate from the same bowl with them.
H e had a donkey of no price, which he would
xdsolne sul.pl~rs, ride without a saddle through the streets of
- ko him so long Bokhara, and the colnmol~people, charmed by
this show of humility, thought that there never
S h a h B'Iolarld had been so single-hearted a man; but inany
:ce,callecl Dcg- stories which are related of him show how
LZ h a s n c . > t 11ccli much worldly sagacity lay under his assumed
C a l i p h 01r1:u; simplicity. H e was the Louis XI. of his
day : cold-blooded and hypocritical, but super-
etiug to ciespisu stitious, and covering much craftiness and
knowledge of mankind with tt quiet and smooth
exterior. Not of cc Shah Abbas the Great" .are
elf wit11 a c:ourt inore good stories told, than of cc Beggee Jan :"
> whose ol~iniol~
!dby wlloln, lii? struck with the recurrence of pl~rases and
-dg c tllc: l)copI(,b
fiXol.~z~rl-l~al~d:u~
160 SINGULAR CONVERSATION.
embody the tales that are related of these two
monarchs in another series of a thousand and sec
one evenings. his
T h e following striking anecdote was told my ex]
friend by one Hkjee Hossein Khan Mervee, an f01
old Cujjer nobleman, who was governor at evc
Merve, when it was taken by Shall Moraud,
and who was carried away prisoner to Uolrhara: thi
he vouched for the truth of the circumstance,
having been in Bokhara when it occurred. ad1
One day, as the Shah was riding through the Na
city on his ass, followed b y a cortkge of Oosbeg, cer
Affgllaun, and I~uzzilbashnobles, l ~ eled the thi;
way t o the coppersmith's bazaar, and stopped Nn
at the shop of an artisan, to whom he addressed HY
the followii~gsingular conversation : " Salaam real
Alelroom."-uAlel~oom salaam."-"Your health aftf
is good ?"-" By your condescension and fa- lie1
r
VOU~."--'~ I am concerned to see you, born a
gentleman, toiling in an occupation that is
beneath you : rather abandon this profession, not
and come live in the town as becomes a man of call
your birth : fear not to write to your friends all in ii
that goes on here ; God be thanked, our ac- me
tions are not such as we are ashamed should cha
be known ; but what you d o write, write truZy, the
and send it openly and worthily." The pre- not
tended coppersmith whom he addressed, he had ans
V
 AFFECTED HUMILITY. *I61
discovered to be a man of some rank, sent
secretly by the Affghaun court to report upon
his actions ; and, by taking this quiet way of
lecaote 3v~tsi01d lny exposing him, he both preserved his reputation
n IChall b 1crvcc, an for mildness, and gained credit for knowing
was g~~V('r11or at every thing that passed.
by Sllall JIor:lucl, I t was his custom to speak of hiinself in the
, r i s o n c r tc, 130'l<l1~: third person, under the affected designation of
,f t h e circ:n~ilst:tllcc, the Faheer, though he allowed I~iinself to be
Len it o c c ~ ~ ~ ' r c l l . addressed by the title of Muzzurut-e-'Vullee
s r i d i n g t l l rough tllc Naiamee, (His Excelle~lcythe Lord of Beiiefi-
col.t&g,rof c Oosbcg, cence,) and a very characteristic ariecdote on
11c I d the this head was related to m y friend by Ameer
ba~c?.al*, z t t l r l siol)l)c(l Nausir ud Deen (Toora), a brother to Aineer
wlx 011-1 IIC? : L ~ ~ ~ ~ I ' L ~ ~ s L ' ~Hyder, wl10, leaving Bokhara for soine political
l v e ~ - s n t i c , ~:l " S:iliurm reason, resided Inany years a t Meshed, and
.aln ."-cc - k r < > i ~IltitlLI~
r afterwards went to Constantinople, where I be-
~ d c s c e m s i c ~ rand l fa- lieve he now is.
to s e e y o u , llonl n The court sat a long time oiie morning i n
o c c t r p a t i c a r ~ tirut is expectatio~iof the Shah's entrance, but i t was
d o n t h i s 1,rof'(issio~i, not till long after his usual hour that he
as b e e c 3 x n t * s :I t11i111~f came ; he then walked in from the outer door,
I
tc t o y o u r lik11(1s:lll inillus a considerable portion of his upper gar-
b e thankctl, our ilc- ment. When he had talcen his seat, and ex-
a r c n s h : a ~ ~ r c a is11n11ld
l changed " salaam alekoom" with the company,
$0 ~ v rtc, i tr-rit ci t r d ! ~ , the eldest of the moolAs expressed a hope that
rortllily.'"Pl~ii ~IW- ilothir~g untoward had occurred. The king's
h e nddrcssr~rl,11ti It:lil answer was, " N o - the fakeer had a friend
V O L . I. M
162' INFLUENCE OF SISAH MORAUD-

whom he had not seen for many days. and he

went yesterday to visit him. 011retumi1%. as
the night was dark, and the road muddy, the
fakecr turned into a mosque and s l e p t them."
" But what food did the Lord of ~ e n e f i c e n c e

eat?" " A plorsel of bread was in a beggar's

wallet, and the fakeey ate that." " And where
is the skirt of Huzzarut-e-'Vullee Naiain ee's
poosteen ?"* '' The fakeer observed t h a t the
beggar's feet were cold, so, considering that the
skirts of his garment were superfluous, he cut
them off to make stockings for t h e poor man."
~ o t w i t h ~ t a n d i nhis
g affected meelmess, S h a h
Blora~zd caused himself to be feared by all
classes of men. I t is to be reinarked in his
character, that, though he overlooked mazly

that he waited to execute vengeance till 31c

could bring it within warrant of t h e Mohutn-
mudan law, and thus he preserved the a s t i n c -
tion that he prized ; foi. those who feared and
disliked him were bound for their own.credit's

but b e was wise enough to give his ort'fi.odos

* Purred cloak.
JD.
RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. 163
lys, and 11e
brethren the full benefit of their law on points
!turning, :is
which much concerned them : he it was who,
nuddy, tllc
ept tllcrc." made the rule by which a man, brought as a
slave to Bokhara, professing himself a Soonnee,
3enefice1lcc
must prove himself such by four known Soon-
i a beggar's
nee vouchers, whom he is little likely to find
And where
a t no warriing and far from his home. Some
Naiit111CC'S
of the most scrupulous Bolrharians are averse
I t h a t thc
to purchasing a man who declares himself to be
1g t h a t tl1c
of the true faith, and Soonnees of other nations
,us, I1c cut
tell yon, that the Toorkmuns, when they cap-
DOT rni~11."
ture a stout man who persists ill declaring him-
:aess, Shn11 self orthodox, will prick his tongue so that he .
~ e dby all
c:mliot articulate, and sell him in that state in
ked in his
the bazaar; or beat him dreadfully, till he is
Iced many
inclined, as the least of two evils, to deny his
orgavc one
faith, and suffer himself to be sold as an infidel.
igil power:
Such men never can become truly religious, for
is passions, the greater the heresy of their neighbours the
Ice till hc greater must be their profit.
: hfohurn- One is apt to wonder that men with so few
he distinc- apparent wants as the Toorkmuns should be
'eared :md so avaricious, for they both feed and clothe
xn credit's themselves indifferently ;but the inhabitants of
I3e intro- deserts seein to have no less a desire than more
t h e city, civilized people to possess greater wealth than
ortl~o(los they have occasion for, and the burden of their
prayers is,-more mares and more camels. 1
M 2
I 64 TOORICMUN MODE OF LIVING.

have said that the Toorkmuns live simply :

usual food is unleavened wheaten or barley
bread: they linead the dough in a wooden
trough, or on a dried skin, and bake it o n the
hearth by covering i t up in wood embers-
They also prepare bread with oil or clarified
buttel;-the cake that the widow of Zareplltha
was piclring up sticlis t o dress, that she mi&
eat with her son, and then die ;-a handful of
meal, and a little oil in a cruise.--?'he bread
being laid on a cloth, is broken into four pieces;
the master says ~isrnillahas a signal to corn-
meilce the meal, and a stranger who l~appcned
to be present, but not inclined to eat, would
brealr off a morsel and put it ill his bosom, not
to slight the invitation. As a better food, they
eat rice or yarma (bruised bheat), a n d sour
milk ; and on great occasiolis a sheep is killed,
and soup or pilau made. Camels are t o o valu-
able to be killed for food, but when ail animal
breaks its leg incurably, or appears likely to
die, they cut its throat with the usual cere-
monies, and eat it. Their drink is buttermilk,
cooppo~k,and, in season, the weakhiest are
said to get tipsy on kimmiz, or fermented marc's
milk, but we did not taste any.
T o judge from the accounts of former writers,
the rJ!oorkmuns are lass carnivorous than they
 L U X U R I E S AND MERCEIANDIZE.

mere. Rlr. A l ~ t h o n yJenkinson, who travelled

across the Caspian desert to Oorgunge in the
year 1558, malres no inenti011 of bread, but
says that he was "very gently entertained with
mare's inillr and t h e flesh of a wild horse ;" and
Abulghazi' Khan relates that Rian Kllan, soil
of Oguz Khan t h e great Tarttdl-, gave a feast
which lasted ten days and nights, in which time
were col~sulnediiine hundred horses, nine thou-
sand sheep, and ninety skinfuls of kimnaix.
In every tent we observed one or two cast
iron pots, which are brought from Russia ;
these were placed over the fire on tripods, and
every thing was cooked in them. The Juxuries
of the Toorlc~nulisare, articles of gayer cloth-
ing than they can manufacture themselves, a
few spices, coarse sugar, and tobacco. These
things they g e t chiefly from petty m e r c h a ~ ~ t s
who come among them with a " sauf conduit"
from Persia. T h e produce of their flocks, and
the felts and carpets which their wornell malie,
they barter with these '<jaggers," or talce across
the border themselves and sell in Persia.
I n Persia they also sell the camels and horses
which they breed for the purpose. Camels
able to carry a load of eighty tabreezmuns, or
about five hundred and seventy pounds E n g -
lish, are sold for about five tomauils each, $3 5s.
16'6 TOORKMUN IIOSPITALITY.

T h e Astrabad merchants purchase yearly for

the marl~etsin the interior about two hundred
horses which they obtain at the average price
of from twenty-five to thirty-five toinauns.
They pay the Toorkmuns in mer-
chandize, which they themselves purchase
wholesale at Tehraun or elsewhere, and retail
at their own prices. Hossein Kouli Aga told
me that the Toorkmuns would put extravagant
upon their well-bred horses, and that,
as they felt affronted if less were offered, h e
humoured their pride by affixing a propor-
tionate value upon his goods when he dealt
with them. A t Ichiva, good horses are sold
a t the rate of from fifteen to twenty tillas
each-£10 to £13.
T h e Toorkmnns pride themselves much on
their hospitality, and they feel affronted if a
traveller passes their camp without stopping.
W h e n a stranger comes to an oubell, he is in-
vited into the first tent, the master of which
welcomes him by taking his hands within his
own, and, holding the bridle of his horse, orders
his wife to prepare refreshment for their guest.
There can harclly be a livelier illustration of the
manners of the Patriarchs than this :-instance
Abraham's running from his tent-door in the
plains of Mamre to meet and welcome the
angels, praying them to rest thernselvcs, and
.LXTY.
CUSTOAlS ILLUSTRATIVE OF SCRIPTURE. 167
:hase y e a r l y for r
comfort their hearts with a morsel of bread ;
and then his desiring Sarah, his wife, to make
ie average price
ready quickly three measures of fine meal,
:y-five toirlau~is.
knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.
r l r r n u n s i n tncr-
Wle manners in particular of the pastol.af
s e l v e s purcliase
~lations in Asia have undergone so little
rh ere, and I-ctail
change, that you may see among them illustra-
tions of nearly all the custoins that are described
in Scripture ; and a traveller in any part of the
o r s e s , and that,
East will meet with the most satisfactory evi-,
ve1-e offcrcd, hc!
dences of the unaffected veracity of the sacred
ixing a. propor- writers. To a European, the description of
wrhen 11c rlunlt many simple Oriental customs appears a ro-
h o r s e s arc solcl mance ; and, connected as they are with so much
o twenty till;^,^ miraculous anecdote, it is very assuring to find
that those who described the lives and actions of
sefves mudl on the people of antiquity did it not in any spirit
'1 affronted if a
l t h o u t stopping.
oubeh, h e is in-
naster of ~vllich
ds within ]]is As far as giving to eat and drink, the Toork-
h i s h o ~ s c ,orders muns are hospitable; but the very man who
gives you bread in his tent will not scruple to
fall upon you when you are beyond its pre-
t h i s :-iustancit cincts. This same hospitality of wandering
'13 t - d o u r in tllc
1 welcolx.lc thc?
~ ~ ~ ~ m s e l:I,,)$
vcs, virtue existed only among demi-savages ; and
 168 HOSPITAL~TPAND TREACHERY.

n man who exercises it sllall be excused t h o u g h

lie be a thief and a cut-throat. Your person is
sacred, and yonr life is t o be dearer to him t h a n
his own ~vllileyou are under the s h d o w of his
tent ;-but yo11 cannot remain there for e v h .
Perhaps at the very lnoment you are eating his
salt, your llost is thinking how at n future
occasioll he may best transfer part of y o ~ l r
wealth to himself, and when you do meet him 011
diis plain, tlie odds are very much against you-
W e are taken with the ~oeticallye x p r e s s i v e
idiom of the Arab, who, as a hint to a strarlger
to surrender his property, says, " Coosil~,
u ~ ~ d r e sthyself;
s thy aunt is without a gar-
ment ;"--but we think it expedient t o h a n g a
rilaii tvho translates and applies the saying in
our own country. The fact is, that, in our love
for the romantic, we judge these wild p e o p l e
nearly by the' same standard with which they
measure themselves. T h e Arabs for instance,-
tve only think of thein as a nation of freemen,
whose deeds have been chivalrous, a n d w h o s e
annals are told in high souading verse, and we
overlook tl~eirvices ; b u t the Bedouins are per-
haps the greatest rogues who wander (read
Burckhardt's summary of their character, and
ask any one who has gone the land route to
Mecca about them). T h e virtues and vices of
all Nomade people aye much the same ; they
 b

:HEZY-
PRIDE AND AVARICE.
t x c u s e d though
entertain exaggerated notions of hospitality and
Your person is bravery, but they are greedy, mean,
rer t o him than
and thievish ; and, thoug11 they may keep good
s h a d o w of his faith wit11 their own race, they will find means
t h e r e for cvkr. to evade the spirit of a pledge given to a
,I a r e eating liis
strangel; if it be much to their interest t o do so.
at a filture '3.'heir hospitality appears greater than that of
settled people, because when travelling they
10 m e e t lliln on rely upon each other for food and shelter ; but
:I a g a i n s t you. they must of necessity do so: Perhaps in
a l l y expressive earlier times the feeling was exercised more as
.t to a straziger a virtue, but now there is to the full as much
tys, " Cousin,
pride as generosity in it, for you will anger a
~ i t h o u ta gzr- man to the extent of making him your enemy
s n t t o l l a i ~ ga if you pass his tent, though he inay not have
t h e saying in wherewithal to feed' you ; and, even allowing
]at, 511 our love that a generous feeling prompts his courtesy,
it is not so strong a one but that avarice will
get tlle better of i t if you have that which

n of freemen, A n excellent illustratioil of desert hospi-

IS, a n d wIlose tality was given me by a Mooselmaun of La-
v e r s e , a n d we hore, whoin we met a t Meshed, who reIated
how, when he went on pilgrimage t o Iler-
w a n del* (read bold], he was robbed on the road by. some
h a r a c t e r , and Bedouins. They took all his money, and the
Land route to very clothes from his back ;. " but," said he,
i a n d vices of 6 c they've the fear of God before them, they are

: s a m e ; tllcy an ?tospitable people : when they had stripped

t!
i:
E
 t

170 TOORKMUN BRAVERY

me, a i d were going away, one of t h e m ,

m e nearly naked, turned back, nlld, drawillg
abba froin off his own shoulders, bade me take
i t ill the name of God ; and afterwards, h a v i n g
nothing, at whatever tent I stayed I got food
ai~cla welcome."
It is, I imagine, chiefly, to t h e cowal'dice of
the Persiails that t h e Toorkmuns owe their
reputation for bravery ; for, when they ex-
change blows with t h e border Koords, who are
good soldiers, they are generally w o r s t e d ;
they are unceasiilg in their harassing skir-
mishes, and, considering the immense fatigue
that both they and their horses can u n d e r g o
up011 the scantiest fare, it must be a d m i t t e d t h a t
few irregular troops are equal t o t h e m . T h e
Russians thinlr. much of their cossaclts, b u t in
' the last Persia11 war the Iluzzilbashes rode
round them, and whipped their heads off when-
ever they could separate them ; however, in
the event of the Russians taking IChiva, and
invading Elindostan by the route of the OxLls,
Bullcll, and Caubul, I suppose t h e y w o u l d train
the Toorkmuns to beat any irregular wvalry
that we could send against them. We expected
to find these T a h r s the very P a r t h i a n s of old,
aud to witi~essprodigies done w i t h tile bow
hi#,
and arrow, but we hardly saw this weapon ;
 172 DOMESTIC OCCUPATIONS.

something like an hussar's : from the back of

this d;ops a red sillr scarf, and in front are
strung as many gold coins as the husband can
nfforcl.
The men, w11o have an overweening idea of
the consequence of their sex, and of their part
of i t in particular, do little but louilge a b ~ i iand
t
sleep, and the woinen perforin all the labour.
Early in the morning they mill< the camels,
bring water, inalte buttermilk, and gather
busl~esto bake bread. After noon they inilk
the sheep and goats, make curds, or prepare the
inilk for butter and lrooroot, and provide the
evening meal. I n their leisure hours they
occupy tl~emselvesin sewing and knitting, or
in carding wool. Then they weave carpets,
and make felt cloths and horse-clothing, and
prepare camel's ' hair for makiilg jubbas.
Many of them are assisted in their labours by
slaves, who, for the most part, live very much
like dogs. W h e n Inen are seated conversing
near them, the women draw up a small piece of
cloth from their bosoms over their mouths, to
signify that they take concern only in their
own occupation. I t is a wild scene, a Toork-
lnun camp. All its tenants are astir at day-
%peak, and the women, after a short busy
period,. retire to work witliin their tents. To-
 A TOORKMUN CAhlP. 173
ack of wards the evening the men get together, and
n t are sit in circles discoursing : the mistress of a tent
~d can is seen seated outside knitting ; near her is " an
old negro woman, dry and withered as the
ilea of deserts of Lybia," wbo is cl~urningin a skin
ir part hung upon three sticks, or dandling the last
11t and born ; and tlic young fry, dirty and nakcd,
abour. except perhaps a small j aclcet, or slculll-cap,
amels, fantastically covered with coins, bits sf metal,
sather or beads and charins, run about in glee like so
T milk many imps, screaming and flinging dust on
re the each other, the great galme of these unsophisti-
ie the cated children of nature. As the day declines,
they the camels are driven in, and folded within t l ~ e
ig, or camp ; soon after the sun has set, a few watchers
rpets, are set; liere and there perhaps in a tent, re-
, and main for a sl~orttime " the light of the candle
.bbas. and the S O U ~ Iof~ the millstones," but soon the
rs by whole camp is in still repose.
much There certainly is a charm about this inode of
lrsing life, and I can understand the dislike that a
!ce of Toorkmun has to living in a city. It has been
IS, to thought that inhabitants of mountaii~ouscoun-
their tries have the strongest feelings of love for their
)ark- homes, because they retain the most vivid recol-
day- lection of the bold scenery that they were born
busy in ; but the Swiss or Highlanders scarcely sigh
To- more for their mountains than do the Arabs and
 174 MAltRIAGE CUSTOMS.

the Toorl\-m~lnsfor the desert-home i s h a m e

all the world over.
The Toorkmuns inarry at a very e a r l y age,
according to the wealth of their parents ; f o r
as, among these people, a Inan is illfluentid less
on account of his wealth than from t h e m m b e r
of his kindred, it is an object with t h e m all
to strengthen themselves by extending t k e h
family csnnexions. There is no betrothing, but
children so young even as of six or s e v e n y e a r s
of age are ceremoniously married, and t h e y
live together after a proper interval. T h e girl
Brings her clothes, carpets, and t h e lighter
articles of domestic f ~ ~ r n i t u;r ethe lad's f a t h e r
gives him a tent, some camels and sheep, and
perhaps a mare, according to his means. Ti-
solnetimes happens that a man cannot afford to
give his son a separate establishment, a n d he
then takes the young man's wife into h i s own
tent, until he is able to provide for him, or t i l l
he himself dies, and bequeaths his establish-
ment to him. W h e n a son goes out froin h i s
father's tent with his portion, he cannot clailn
further inheritance, which is generally left to
, those living in the paternal tent. This is rather
in accordance with old custom t h a n w i t h
Mohuinmudan law.
It is known when two families are il.bolzt to
 MARRIAGE CUSTOMS.

form an alliance, and some days before that

fixed for the ceremony, friends of t h e parties

within a little distance of the camp, they p u t

their horses to the gallop, and, riding with joy-

welcomed wit11 the usual compliments. Their

llorses are picketed outside the tents, and for
that day they are guests of the whole camp,
a party in each tent. The' next day, by noon,
all the guests have arrived, and, from the tent of
the bridegroom's father, a camel bearing kajn-
'vahs, gaily tricked out, is sent with a party
of men to the bride's tent. The damsel awaits
them, reclining on a carpet outside t h e tent-
door ; in her hand is a cord, the other end of
which is fastened to a horse-pin driven into the
ground : she affects to sleep, and over her is
thrown 3 cloth, in pretended concealment of
her person. The bridegroom's men advance t o
carry her off, but she is defended b y her innlc
friends, who, armed with sticlts, are very liberal
of their blows to the opposite party. After
having been tolerably well beaten in iivc or six
attacks, the bridegroom's inen excl ai nl :tpinst
 I\IAKRIAGE C,!,.JSTOhlS.'

the rough treatment, and they are no longer

resisted : they run with shouts to tlie girl,
snatch her up, and, carrying her 0f-F to the
camel, sent her in the kajavah, and convey her
i n triumph to a tent pitched next to the host's.
The women are all busy preparing food ; the
men get together arid ainuse themselves, sit-

a pipe, or a two-wired guitar ; or they converse

and tell stories, or play at odd or even, push
each other about and halloo, or get up and
wrestle in parties, and no small part of their
aillusement lies in endeavouring to steal from
each other as they sit. Spartan-like, they keep
what they steal, and pride themselves on their
dexterity. A t even-fall they seat themselves
xouad tlie bridal tent, and a Cazee coming calls
for the two sponsors of the parties, arid addresses
them with these mock words : " Asso~iffee
'Vussou.ffee Iinaum-e-Azim Aboo Hunneefa,
vickalitra sabit kon," which means, slaortly :
" Prove your vakeel's commissions." This raises

a shout of merriment, a n d the vakeels, going

away to a little distance, return and answer
i n Lilre inocls. words--cc W e . are proven.'' When
the mirth excited by this mummery has sub-
sided, there is brought a bowl covered with a
kerchief, or1 which is a piece of money ; and
 MARRIAGE CUSTOMS.

011 a tray, raisins or sweet rolls are biought,

and distributed among the guests as bride-
cake. T h e kerchief and the piece of inoney are
the Cazee's fee. T h e marriage words being
read, and the 11ands of the couple joined by t h e
Cazee, the nuptial cap is put on the girl's heacl
and, the ceremony being completed, the com-
pany wish t h e pair all sorts of nzoobnv-iclcs," a n d
they walk together into the tent, t o show that
they are " one." Then tlie rough sports are
resumed, and a crier goes about on the part of
the bridegroom's father, proclaimirlg races for
o s t e a l from
the morrow, and inviting all to send their horses
to the starting ground. l'he best horses have
Lves on their
been previously trained, and those that are four
themselves
years old are sent out a distance of twenty or
inore miles. Many of our informants seemed
,nd a d d r e s s e s angry when we doubted their horses r ~ i n n i n g
'' A s s o u f l e e from the Attruclr to the Goorgaun river, which
is twenty-seven miles and a half, i n tlie hour;
but the same men would not believe me when
I told them that a horse from " Yankee doonia"
had trotted sixteen miles and a balf in &n hour ;
they said it was imnpossibte.
en ." T V h e n The horses are ridden by boys. Starting a t '

first prayer time (dawn of day), they keep u p a

ered wit11 a
 178 TOORIihlUN IIORSE-RACING.

tlley change their pace t o a canter. be-

fore they near the goal, they are m e t those
interested in the race : the latter station t h e m -
selves at intervals, and shout to encourage t h e
Ilorses, which, now pressed into a gallop, colme
in to the winning-post amid the acclamations of
the assembled crowd. T o the o w n e r of t h e
winning horse a prize is awarded, w l ~ i c l lcon-
sists of mares, camels, or sheep, and s o m e t i m e s
money. This donation is proportionate wit11
the wealth of the host ; we heard instances of
prizes to the value of one hundred tillas (£65)
having been given on sucll occasions by w e a l t h y
parents. Then there are races of less distances
for younger horses, and a general p l a t e for all
untrained nags, for a distance of e i g h t iniles o r
so, ttle winners of which get smaller prizes.
Private races and bets are made ; p r o m i s i n g
horses are sold or exchanged ; and, as a N e w -
market man would say, business is done."
c6

On this day, all are guests of t h e bride-

groom's father. H e provides meat, rice, floul-,
kc. and tlle womeil of the oubeh assist t o c o o k
it. The work of eating goes on d u r i n g tile
best part of the day, flaps of bread, a n d bowls
of soup, or pi la^^, being served u p contilluvlly
at the nmter's tent ; the guests of the
good cheer in relief parties, and then, saddling
 I

I NG.
T00RICR.IUN MVSTC.

their horses, malce the parting conlpli~nentsto

the host, and return to their homes as they
came. These " gatherings" take place in the
spring' of the year, and the Toorkmuns look
forward wit11 much delight to the pleasures of
this season. They did not appear t o me to
o w n e r of tlle
have any great taste for either inusic or poetry,
but to the few simple airs that they sing are
and sometimes 1 set words descriptive of tile cllarms of such
ortionate with I meetings and the manly pleasure of war. The
inhabitants of Karazm formerly had the fame
of being great proficients in the art of music,
mci it is said that, on the occasion of an ambas-
sador's arriving at Petersburgh from I<arazn~,
in the year 1714, to treat of aa alliance with
Peter the Great, the Tzar expressed a liking
for the Toorkinun music. W h a t tve heard in-
clined. me not to thinlc much of it. I once
~ d ,as n Ncw- heard a young man sing through his nose for
ISis ~OIIC." half an hour, occasionally striking the two wire
of t h e bride- strings of his guitar : I could not malce out
?at,rice, flo111; any tune, but was told that 11e was rather an
assist t o cooli c c artiste," and that he had bee11 extemporising

the history of a famed horse.

The Toorkmuns 'differ from other Mohum-
mudan pastoral nations in some of t,lleir inar-
riage customs; very few take the authorized
coinpleinent of wives; I do not think that we
 180 TOORRMUN WOMEN.

saw a tent in which there were inore than two-

Biost commonly, virgins are given to u n m a r r i e d
lads ; if n widower desires to wed a maiden, he
most pay largely for her, which is a d i s t i n c t i o x ~
that does not accord with Mohumrnudan law.
For a inan to lnarry a widow is a still more
difficult matter ; for, unlike the Arabs, ~ l l o
consider marriage with a widow ill-omened,
the Toorlcmuns prefer them 011 account of
their sl~periorkilowledge of the rnd?zage, t h e y
being of course better acquainted w i t h house-
hold duties than unmarried girls. I n A r a b i z
but half price is given for a widow, b u t the
Toorkinun relicts are generally at a considel.-
able premium.
-
It was related, as a n i n s t a n c e
of a man's great generosity, that he gave h i s
daughter, a widow, t o t l ~ ebrother of his de-
ceased son-in-law, when he might have g o t t e n
to the val~leof-I aln afraid to say how 1nn11y
toinauns for her.
Putting a woman away is a t h i n g h a r d l y
known among Too~kniuns,and in this r e s p e c t
again they differ from t h e Arabs ; for, a c c o r d i n g
to Burclchardt, an Arab separates l ~ i n ~ s efl if- o ~ n
his wife by the easy method of saying, 6c T h o u a r t
divorced," and giving her a she-camel t o r e t u r r l
to the tents of her family wit11 : t h u s , whencvcr
he will be a t the expense of a camel, a inan lnay
 . ,l
,
. .*-. . 5 , ' 1 . I "

T001tI<MUN WOMEN.

cllange his wife : the Toorltmuns either are

fonder of their women, or they set greater store.
on their camels, for they have no such law, and
would think it bad economy to part 'with SO
useful a pmt of their establishmei~t: our friend
the Cazee indeed had dismissed a wife, but,
then heGhadtravelled to Bokhara Sherecf, and
learned the usages of good society. F o r adul-
tery, either party inay be killed by a freeman

live in camp prevents secret intercourse, the

severity of the law, and dread of the bloody
feuds which would probably be consequent
upon the injury, deter men from the com-
mission of it. The chastity of the Toorkimun
women settled ,near the Persian border is a
j
proverb ; but there is this to be said, that no
ICuzzilbash Lothario would b e found hardy
enough to vent~zreillto tlie desert to seduce
them. Of the Too~kin~zn laclies farther north,
indeed, I heard other stories, horn Persians
who had travelled arnong them ; but a Per-
sian's account of his bonnes fort~nesis like a
Frenchman's.
T h e Tool.kmuns capture marly beautiful
women in Persia, b~ztprefer makii?g lnoriey by
selling them in the marlrets of IChiva and
182 I'ERSIAN FEIVIALE SLAVES.

Bokbara to taking them to wife. Tlie women

of pure Tartar Mood are proud of it, alld ill-
disposed to share their lands with a stranger, so
that, for the sake of peace, a man will content
l~iinselfwith a wife or two of his own race.
66 Mromen!" said a Toorkmun female, in allusion

to the Persian girls ; " do you call those thin-

skinned daughters of the devil-women ?" T h e
condition of these poor captives must be very
wretched, torn from their homes, and taken
~lndereveyy indignity and suffering through the
desert, t o be sold i n the Oosbeg mzlrlrets.
T h e following anecdote, though told li la
Persun, I believe to be true : the relates was
a young man of a respectable family, who lived
a t Meshed, and I give the story in his words :
" W h e n Ameer IIyder died, I was sent, I beg

to state, wit11 the Elchee, who went to carry

Hussan Allee Meerza's condolement to the
royal family a t Bokhara. The day after our
arrival a t the city, I strolled out into the bazaar
with a man of the Mehmaundar's," a n d passing
down t h e street, saw that it was lined on either
side with groups of Inen and women. It did
not at first strike me that they were prisoners,
for every thing was new to me ; but, on a
of my compaaion's, I stayed t o observe
* Host.
 .,... .. *>.,A- .- -. . ..-. *-,..,*. ,.-- ,-, ,>,.,,-, .,.V '- 'LC .',-.=I-.--. - "r . +,-.<, ., ., rr. ., ..,,c,v,v..- .. ,. ".

SALE OF FEMALE SLAVES.

e cvomen them, and my heart turned within me, for they

were of my own country and religion, .and
lotted like beasts, to be sold to worse than
Icaufirs. I could do nothing, -nothing but
)mn race. curse their oppressors, so I very sorrowfully
took my way home again. At the head of the
bazaar I again stopped, to watch a bargain that
an Oosbeg was driving for a vely beautiful
Persian girl, so beautiful, I beg leave to state,
' that I have not seen her like. A neck a cubit
long,-eyes, large as-this cup (taking up from
the sofra" one which helped hiin to a simile) :
her tears fell lilre tlle rain in spring, and she
was altogether so lost in grief that she appeared
bereft of her senses. H e r master treated her
with the grossest brntality, making her rise and
uncover herself, that her intended purchaser
might see the beauties of her person. Once he
rudely snatched the veil from off her, andGod
is witness, that when, froin shame she crossed
her arms over he]: bosom, he cut her 011 the
back with a whip to make her withdra~vthein :
further, what shall I say ?-my heart bunled,
and I becaine as nothing ; b u t I was powerless,
a stranger, and without the means to ransom
h e r . ' Inshallah,' a day will come !"
Sometimes a Toorkmun allows the power of
* Tdble cloth.
beauty to prevail over his love for l~lcre, a KC
takes llis captive to wife, but there n1.e *bjec- slnvt
tions to this which will be presently show"- As t
of the passion of love, as civilized m o r t a l s a x 2d
imagine it, they have but a faint idea, wall
indeed, if they valued b e y o ~ l do t h e r -pe r h
charms, they woold soon be disappointed in bear
their wives, for the hard labour that t h e l a t t e r 11a d
perform soon causes them t o lose the l i t t l e be a r
beauty that can be follild in a Tartar girl's face, I
and to appear wrinlded and aged : a really old - ICou
Toorklnurl woman looks as if she was made of I-lot
leather, anci as mucll like a witch as any cren- us;
ture that car1 be imagined. Y e t t h e old p o e t s not
have ~vritteavery pretty verses o n t h e Tartar an1d
rvomen, and the ancient kings of Persia used to whic
sel~d into Toorkestaun for beauties for t h e i r as1 1
harems. the
T l ~ echief objection to a Toorkmun's marry- of 1
ing a foreign woman lies in the very arbitrary not
laws that they have in regard t o their progeny. ,r
~"LU
Toorkmun may free his captive, b u t h i s issue wl1c
by hey and their descendants bear for e v e r tllc Chi]
nilme of ICOLI~(literally slave), though they live IciU
alnol1g, and on gelleral terlns of equality w h<
the Eegs, 01' free-born. Among the ~ < ~ ~ f ~
thet
again, there are gentle and silnple : the sou of zL tke
forei~llwoman by a Toorkru~lnfather is lncrely 11its
,ltn L A B O V I t .
CI-IILUREN OF SLAVES.

a Koul, but for the child of a s l a y married to a

slave, there is an.inferior designation, D6gmah.
A s there is no outward difference between Eegs
and ICouls, a stranger, con~ingto an oubeh,
t idea, a i ~ d would not know one from the other, except
perhaps that he ~llightguess, fiom the thicker
beard or handsomer features of a man, that h e
l ~ a dnot the honour to come altogether of a
;e the little beardless and noseless race.
In speaking of a Icoul, a Inan will say,
Icoul-e Otaboli, ICoul-e Eelghi; kc.; the term is
was made of not one of more reproach than peasant is with
as a n y cre:t- us; but the Toorklnuns of unn~ixeddescent do
not from old prejudice intermarry with them,
and retain certain privileges, the greatest of
e r s i a usecl to wl~ichextends eve11 to the life of a Icoul, whicli
es for t h e i r an Eeg tnay take without elltailing 011 hilllself
the blood feud which woulci be tile consequence
of his killing a freeman. 8 1 1 this account i t is
not considered safe to travel with a IZoul, be-
cause he cannot defend you against an Ecg
b u t llis issue
for e v e r t l ~ c
kill a Koul with personal imp~ulity,the clan t o
wllom the il~urdered marl beloilged coilsider
; the L<oirls themselves warranted in slaying a Koul from
the sol1 of i t tile aggressor's tribe in lieu ; but this privilege
its lilxlits, for the freelnen, esteenlir~gtheir
 186 , FAMILY QUARREL.

honour concerned ill tile i~.otectionof the Kouls

who live with them, resent an abuse of it ; and,
wedded as the 'I'oorkmu~~sa r e t o o l d customs,
this one will probably become early less in-
fluential, as the I(ouls already f o r m a large
majority alnoilg the tribes.
An instance occui~edwhile w e were in
desert, which shows the force af t h e c u s t o m : it
was the circumstat~ceto which 1 a l l u d e d as
causing ill blood between t h e Jaffer 3 3 s and
Peerwullee's clan. There were two half-bro-
tllers of the Jaffer Bi tribe, t h e ane an E e g ,
and the second a ICoul. T h e first, speaking
rudely to his brothel-'s wife, was talcen t o task
for it, upoil wl~icllhe drew his s w o r d u p o n him.
The ICoul fled, but, perceiving hilnself to b e par-
siled, he stopped, and desired t h e aggressor to
be satisfied zvitli the su binission h e h a d rendered
him, saying that he fled before h i m because he
was an Eeg, and his elder, not from fear. Some
others coming up mediated t h e q u a r r e l for t h e
moment, b~ztat night the ICoul struclc h i s tent,
and took his wife to a tribe of Doogooncllee
Yimoots (a branch from t h e Otabo: tribe),
among whom he settled. T h e J a E e r Bls, h u r t
i
that a family sho~zldhave forsaken tlleln for
a Chooni clan, sent to deinarld t h a t tile wolnall I
sho~tldbe sent back to live with h e r relations ;
 P ~ Z I D EOF BIRTH. 187
11of the ICouls the Doogoonchees refused to give up those who
lse of it ; and, l ~ a dsougllt their protection, and then a body of
1 old custon~s, Jaffer 13'is, coining unawares upon their cainp,
yearly less in- forcibly carried away a bride, a free-born girl.
form a large Still they would not give up the fugitive, and
the quarrel became very bitter : the Jaffer Bis
e were in the were the strongest party, s l i d the others, not
he custom : it being able to recover their woman by force,
I alluded as called in the Cazees, who patched up the busi-
3ffer Bis and ness by reconciling the brothers. The women
two half-bro. were restored, but an ill feeling remained be-
one an Eeg, tween the tribes, to wl~ichwe were in a great
irst, speaking measure indebted for our release.
talren to task I n 110 people is the. pride of birth stronger
wd upon him. than in the Toorkinuns : these ugly little
self to be pnr- savages have the most sovereign colltempt for
? aggressor to their good-looking neighbours, the Persians,
had rendered and believe that they are the only people of
31 because he any real cor~sequencein the world: the Syud,
o fear. Soine once saying to Peerwullee that he lmcl some
larrel for the thougllts of settling in the desert, and asking
'uck llis tent, for his daughter to wife, was answered gravely
3oogoonchee by this dirty and ragged old villain,--" Nay,
taboi tribe), nay, T l ~ y u dAgca, a jest's a jest, but nothil~gof
?er B'is, hurt that, if you please." Among thelllselves (ex-
en them for cepting the distinction of E e g and ICoul afore-
t the wolllall inentioned), the Toorlcmul~spossess the Frencl~
Y relatioils ; motto, cc Liberte, Egalitd." Some
 188 F U N E ~ ~ AC
LE R E M O N I E ~ ,

respect is paid to old age, and a man of mal*kcd

courage or military sskill exercises an acknow-
ledged influence over his associates ; as O u r
rascally guide poeticnlly expressed h i m s e l f ?
cr Each Toorkmun is lord of his own t e n t ,

n slave to the beck of no man." whell a

Tooskman dies, a Cazee or Mooll$ is c a l l e d i n
to superintel~dthe last offices. The deceasetl
is washed, sown up in a sack, and p u t into a
sl~allo~v grave, over which the earth is henpcd
I
in a conical form. T h e tent in which t h e
person died is struclt, and over t h e ground t h a t
it covered is raised a mound of earth, on whicll
i is planted a pole with a small flag. Those who
arc killed in fight with infidels, we h o n o u r c d
wit11 the name of rr Shiheed," that is witness (to
the true faith) ; when they can, they bury
their dead in holy grolxnd, such as t h a t near
Meshed-e-Rlisreaull. On the third, s e v e n t h ,
and fortieth days after the death, they distri-
bute victuals in alms ; and, after a year, they
close the obsequies wit11 a feast to t h e me-
mory of the deceased. T h e latter are rites
which have no place among those of the nlo-
l~uminudsmreligion, but which are practised
illore or less by all eastern nations.
T h e introduction of the Moosellnaun ycli-
arnong the Toorkmuns has causecl sLlrlc
 PRIDE OF ANCESTRY. 189
of marked
acknow-
1 of tllem to belie their ancestors. There are

i
11
those among thein who (I lcllow not, nor
but, as o u r could they well explain how,) call themselves
3 himself,
1 tent, a n d
When a
I.
I
I
descendants of Abu Bukr, and assume the ho-
norary title of Muklldoom. Others who trace
I their descent from Omar, call themselves
s c a l l e d in
Shailths, and those rvlio conceive themselves t o
e deceased 1

be descended from the third Caliph, Oosman,

p u t into a, i

take the surnalne of A t t a (the Turkish for

I
is heaped [
father). These holy n ~ e nare all called Syuds,
~ h i c hIhe i for the Toorlcmuns do not discriminate be-
.ouz~d that
i tween the desceildants of the Prophet and
o n whicli i
K those of their great Caliphs ; they are not
Fhose who
honoured
1 expected to fight, except in religious war, their
duty being to make u p quarreIs between in-
v i t n e s s (to dividuals and tribes. One who says his prayers
hey- bury often, and who does not smolte, they ca.11 I
that near Sooffee. They are all very fond of smoking,
seventh, but those who affect pecu1i:~r sanctity refrain.
ley distri- My friend the Syud, a, t the time when we
rear, they were in the Cazee's oubeh, ivas whifing away,
the me- with great zest, from an old wooden bowl
are rites topped by an earthen cup, when the women
the Mo- of the tent inquired wonderingly liow a inn11
practised who had been to Mecca could smoke. H e as-
i
sured them that, 017 the contrary, all slnolred at
sun reli- Mecca, and then, to do away with any bad im-
ed s'ome pression that might have remained on their
 PENALTY FOR SMOICING-

he a piece of old cloth, w h i c h

he p v e out ill shreds, with p e a t solemnity, as
part of tile tapestry of the Caaba :' this, he
nfterr~rards told me with much glee,. was a
piece of a coat given him by an A r m e n i a n
friend at Tabreez.
I do not know with whom originated a l a w
tliat is in existence at Bokhara to p r e v e n t
smoking. T h e penalty is a disgraceful one,
the offender, of whom it is judged proper to
make an example, being seated on a n ass, a n d
led througli the city with his calleoon t i e d
i t neck. I n points of Mohummudan
n l ~ o ~his
law, t l ~ eOosbegs profess to be guided by t h e
opinions of the Oolelna of Constantinople ; b u t
n year or two ago, when a MoollA of t h a t ca-
pital calne to Bokhara with his pipe, and s e t
liinlself to reason his Soonnee brethrei~o u t of
what appeared to him an absurd prejudice, bor-
dering upon the dogma of the Wahabees,? t h e r e
was talk of opening his mouth from ear t o ear,
and he was glad to take hi~nself off. T h e
Affghauns have partly borrowed this conceit

" The hangings of the Caaba are changed a n n u a l l h a n ~ l

the old cI0ths are cut up and given to the pilgrims.
The followers of Abd-el-Wahab, the John Knox of tllc
East, who strictly forbnd the reformed Mooselrnnuus
to smoke tobacco or to wenr sill<,
 LAW AGAINST SMOICINO. 191
cloth, wliit!l~ from their northern neighbours, ancl the scru-
solcrnnity, iis pulous among them will only use the weed ilk
ba :*. this, 11(! the forin of snuff, of which they take inl~ilocle-
glce, was :t rate quantities. F e w of them know wliy thcrc
Am lttijian is a restriction on the indulgence ; tlley can
hardly apprehend any intoxicating effects from
inatcrl :I l:l~v using it, as an Asiatic would smoke for a week
t o ~lrcvl'llt witllo~ltfeeling dizzy ; and the only thing a t
;raccf 111 ollrA, all like a reason for disapprovii~g of i t we
cd 1>'01'"'1' t" afterwards heard from an Affgtlaun hlooll8,
11 a11 ilSS, i l l l ~ l wlio tl-avelled with us from I-Ieraut to Kru~-
:alleoo~~t icvl dahar. ci It is written in the IIuclilccs,"~!' 11c
oliurntr111tl:t11 argued, cc that the blessed Propllet; (on ~ v l ~ o m
liilccl 1)y t11c be God's peace !) said, ' I-Ie who maltes himself
Li~lol~lch
; l~iit like to those of another tl.ibe, becotllcs as one
h of t l ~ a (*;I-
t of that tribe." Now, as Sheal~s,Ilil~iloos,ancl
ipct, alirl slut Jews, all smoke, we by s m o k i ~ ~shoald
g assi-
:bran oiit 01' milate ourselves to them,-wliich God forbid ! "
~j~~cli(*c:,
her- T h e Toorlrmuns have got holcl of tliis tcxt,
L~)cc'N;I. tli~qy and use i t as an apology for selling Affgliauns
to cl:ir,
11 cl;lr and Ilazaurelzs, because they are likc the Pel*-
F oiI: *I'll~ sians.
tliis c o n c c ~ i ~ The last of xny notes upon the Toorkimlills
is, that they are a very dirty people. IYatcr
is but sparingly used by tl~en?, ailti tlicy
wear the same clotl~esfor a ~ h o c l i i ~ ~ g1o11g
ly
time. To this cailse lnucli of llic rliscuscb
192 UNC1.EANNESS OF TIIE TOORKMUNS.

which prevails among theln inay be attributed ;

and, talring into consideration all things con-
nected with their mode of life, their exposure
to t h e extremes of climate, their bad food, and
their total ignorance of medicine, I think, a
conjecture inay be hazarded, that tlie popula-
tion of these Nomade tribes is not on the in-
crease, and that, as I before observed, nearly as
Inany now inhabit this desert as, according to
their present way of living, could be supported
in it.
I will not conclude my notice of these barba-
rians suite in the spirit of NIeslled-e-Noro~lz.
A L

wlio prayed that both they, tlieir ancestors,

and their posterity inight be accursed ; but, for
humauity's sake, I will express a hope that
their power may be brokeil, thougll not by
the Russians, who as :1 consecluent are, they
think, to cause such a change in the political
condition of the nations of central Asia, as will
eject us from Hindoostan, ruin our colmnerce, .
and establish their authority as lords paramount
 RKMUNS.
PILFERING OF OUR BAGGAGE.

CI-IAPTER IX.

according t o
Agent.-Dangers of a Traveller in Persia.-Halreem the
b e supported ',
best trnvclliilg title.-An invisible Patient. -Presents to
our Friends.-Audience with the Prince.-The Shazadeh's
Condescension.--The Syud's Reply-Allee IChan and his
half-brother. -Persian notioris of Europeans.- Russian

I BROUGHT LIP lny journal to the 22nd of

a hope that I May, when we were settled at Astrabad, in the
orxgll n o t by j house of our new Persian friend Aga J/lohum-
erlt are, they !
, ,
mud Caussim. On the 23rd, Ai Ilog,uedi
. the political i ca~nein to report that be had with &reat diffi-
culty succeeded in lodging our baggage in a
Jaffer Bi oubeh, Peerwullee having refused to
conle into Astrabad, and gone off with his
camels. We paid the hire of horses to bring
the things in, but when they came, we remark-
.
ed a considerable diminution in the size of the

at a great loss, what remained of our unlucky

194 oun DEpARWJltE O P p o s z ~
venture, and when we had indemnified the
Persians for the loss they had sustai11ed in their
trade, and rewarded theln for their services, we
found ourselves without a " sous-" Hossein
Ko~lliAgn had bo~ighthorses for t h e 'Jkhraun
market with his money, and Hajee Motallib
declared that he had n o t got a n y ; b u t we
were so fortunate as to meet a m e r c h a n t going
to Tehraun, who gave m e fifty-five ~ ~ m a u n s
for a bill upon the British Envoy ; and, writing
to our friends requestiilg that m o n e y l ~ i & tbe
sent to us at Meshed, we used w h a t w e l ~ a d
obtaincd in buying horses and e q ~ ~ i p p i nour-
g
selves for a journey to that place.
Our illtention of iln~nediately starting was
however opposed by t h e one-eyed Vuzeer.
This gentlc~nanseemed quite pel-plexed a t our
return, and took the Syud to t a s k for not
liaving delivered the letter of introduction that
we had on OUI- first coming to Astrabad, in
which case, he said, all that h a d happened
might have been prevented. I t was explained,
that we merely carried the letter as a protec-
tion ; that, having travelled t h r o u g h his pro-
vince, it was needless t o observe t h a t we had
no occasion to use it ; that the honour of a pre-
sentation to the Prince would have caused the
eyes of all men to be t ~ ~ r n eudp o n us; and
 BY THE VUZEER. 195
ied t h e that the Toorkmuns would have been unwill-
ill t l l e i r ing to believe us inere travellers to India b y
ices, Tve the route of IChiva and Bokhara. " H a d not
~ ~ s s c i n this reason, which your wisdom will a t once
rch r-sun see the force of, intervened," said t l ~ eSyud,
bfo t z ~ l l i b
" nothing would have prevented our hastea-
bt~t; k g to render our homage to a prince who
~t g o i n g owes his widely-spread fame to the sagacity,
;om3iIU119 learning, ability, and goodness of his Naib."*
ting Then the Vuzeer talked very big about the
n i g l r t be Shazadeh's honour being conce~nedin the re-
w e liar1 covery of our property, and requested us Lo
remain a few days until proper measures could
be taken. The days passed without bringing
.ing WilS us any of the stolen goods, and, having from
v t z xcel: the first set no store upon the minister's pro-
xi a t our mises, we were anxious to be gone ; but he
fox- 11ot was always urgent for a little more time, de-
L;iarl that claring that the Prince would not give us
-:tb:~cl,it1 congk till something had been done for us.
t ~ l ~ ~ ~ 3 e ~ l ~ l l We did not spend the time very pleasantly ;
~plrti~lcil, .the weather was rainy, and our house consisted
:k 1 3 r 8 > t ( ' ~ - of one confined room and a loft. To say that
liis pro- fleas swarmed would be but half-describing
; -51" ll:l(I our misery ; they came out at sunset with t h e
c>f :t 1'""- mosquitoes, and I used to lie in torture the
llscrt tl1c night long, till the Muezzin sang out the first
11s ; and * Deputy.
02
,196 PERSIAN WANT O F VERACITY.

call to pmyer. Then ill the d a y tinley whnl I "Uri

would have slept, we were broken ill by th
the townsmen, who, considering that a F e r i n ~ e e th
and lnen who had escaped from t h e Toorlcln~lns 3%
were sights not to be seen every day, would va
intrude themselves upon our privacy, and, sia
thinking a Salaaln alekoom in troduction th
enough, would seat themselves, and pestel. us w<
rvith all sorts of questions. It may serve to E'c
show how gratuitously Persians will lie, and t13r
yet 11ow casily they will believe each o t l ~ e r , a .
and also what exaggerated notions they enter- x<;
tain of the wealth of Europeans, when I state an
that a man, who professed to h a v e seen 80,000 stc
tornauns in our cell at the caravansera before to
we started, was believed;--when it appeared that ho
the Toorknluns had not found muclz money
among our effects, our good friend EIossein OU
.I<ouli Aga was said to have taken charge of our sta
wealth for us ; arid another party, improving sxi:
upon this version, hinted that he had ordered in<
11s to be made away with, that he migllt 11 a,
appropriate our treasure. h a(
Hossein IZouli Aga was well nigll frantic at tht
these reports, which he said would bring rllill
upon him and liis, and it was only llis civility
that prevented him from cursing tlrc day
which he had made our a c q ~ i a i n t nefore
~ ~ ~ ~wc?.
1
 TAKEN FOR A RUSSIAN AGENT. 197
ne, when I went, howevei., we were able, from information
1 upon by that we received from various quarters, to guess
a, Feringee the party to ~110111we owed our ill-treatment.
?oorlnnuns Wheil we were at Tehraun, reports n7ere pre-
lay, would valent that Abbas Mirza, aided by the Rus-
vacy, and, sians, intended to march into IChorassaun, and
~troductio~? thence to proceed to invade ICarazrn. MThell
pester us we left Astrabad, it was lrnown that I was a
LY serve t o Feringee, and, some one connecting me with
ill lie, a i d the reports in circulation, I was reported to be
?ach other, a Russian agent of Abbas Mirza's, going into
they enter- ICarazm, with inuch money, to spy the land,
hen I state and seduce tribes on the road, or some such
seen 80,000 story. The y011ng Shazadeh was silly enough
sera before to believe this, and instructed his master of
)peared t l i n t horse (Orauz Icouli) to prevent our journey.
~ c money
h The Vuzeel; who, we were told, was against
~d IEtossein our being interfered with, not rightly under-
large of our standing who I was, suffered himself t o be per-
irnpr oving suaded against his better judgment. I am
iad ordered inclined to believe this, because Orauz Kouli
he 1nig11t had too il~uclia t stalre to injure us, uilless he
had been backed by the highest authority at
tifrantic at the place : lie was a servant of the prince's, and
bring ruiu on terms of great friendship with Hussein
his civility Kouli Aga, b y whoin he profited much in a
mercantile way ; moreovel-, Peerwullee told A i
the day on
13efore wc
./ 1
Doguedi in confidence, that the party sent

i
i
198 DANGERS OF A TRAVELLER

after us had orders to report what wealth we

had, and to send our boolts and instru rnents t o
Astmbad. It is a likely story, b e c a u s e there
are a few men in authority in ~ e r s i aw h o
would not order an act of 'violence and folly,
if they saw a, chance of getting a n y t h i n g by it.
I should not, however, omit to say t h a t ,
though unwittingly, I brought much of t h e
misfortune on myself ; for, not t h i n k i n g it safe
to visit IClliva as a mere traveller, I determined,
against the opinion of the dyud, to assume the
character of a mercl~ant; but as, froin the short-
ness of our stay, we were obliged to buy our
 I.N PERSIA. 199
alth we
those which resulted from mine. It is easy to
aents t o detect an error when you have suffered from it,
;e there and the one which I would particularly notice
;ia who in my plan is, my having hastily adopted a
d folly, character, and purchased goods at the prices
g by it. asked for them.
Ly tllat, I f I were to travel again in sucli countries,
I of tlle
in the disguise of a native, I would take the
g it safe character of a poor one ; but I think that a
:rminecI, European can hardly hope to escape detection,
line tlle Sol; thougll he inaybe conversant with the idioms
ie short- of the language, his inode of delivery, his man-
buy our ner ever1 of sitting, wallting, or riding, in short,
;ual T.V:LY his tout ensemble, is different froin that of an
of those Asiatic, and the very care that he takes not to
friend's betray hiinself gives hiin an air that causes
d make him t o be noticed. A inan may, I tllinlr, get
t appear on best in the character of a French or Ita1'Ian
do not doctor. These itinerant gentry are sometimes
lut I atiz met with, and, as their country is supposed t o
bed safer be somewhere about the antipodes, they are
rich in not viewed with distrust. Among people so
brought ignorant, a Sangrado may pass for a great ha-
i t ; but, keem, the simplest medicines will cure most of
3gs, and their ailments, and you may tell those who are
wlletl~cr beyond your skill, that it is not their nusseeb*'
I would to be cured. No character will gain you such
LIS tllall Fortune.
. rlqm"v m "

200 HAKEERI THE BEST TRAVELLING

good treatment, and it has this great advantage*

that it does not oblige you to conceal Your
religion, or, what is worse, to affect t h e M o -
hummudan. Few will question you, and You
may make free use of the names of their
most esteemed hakeems Solerat and Bolcl'at,
Lokman and Aboo Allee Seiaa, but if You
should happen to meet a mail of as great pre-
tensions as yourself, and he should begin to try
you with queries, ask him whether a s h i v e r i l l g
fever is a cold or liot disease.
You need not be harassed with apprehensions
of putting a. patient to death in an unusual
manilel; such as ~ u n n i n ga lancet through a vein
into an artery, for if you deeim phlebotomy re-
quisite, you order a barber to come and operate ;
and, thougli i t may startle you to see h i m open
a seam half way up the patient's arm, you may
rest assured he will not draw too much blood.
The11 for physic, the stronger you can v e n t u r e
to administer it the greater your r e p u t a t i o n .
" On peut tuer dcux ou trois dans une annge,"
as Sig~loi~ 'l'urconi observed, 6 c mais ga, arrive
t o ~ ~ j o u!r"s illy friend, the doctor, was a ro-
' mancer, and he threw out so many hints a;bout
bright eyes that had flashed upon him,
soft tongues that had spoken to him in tile
course of his professional career, that fol* some
ST T R A V E L L I N G TITLE IN I'EILSIA. 201
this g l - e a t adv:intagc, days my mind was engrossed with tlloughts
y o n t o C C I ~ I C C L LJ'(KIl'
~ of high-heeled little slippers, and silken slrreens,
-se, t o ~ $ T ctc ll~c $10- gazelle-like eyes, and henna-tipped fingers, and
uestion y o u , all(1 )"Ill I becnine quite anxious to see the rrlil~es of
the l l a l m e s of' tilcir dazzling beauty t l ~ a tthe Signor clescribed as
S o l e r s t niiil 1 3 0 l ~ a t , buried in the depths of the infidels' harems, and
ee $&la,b u t if S.011 to get an insigl~tinto the interior ecollorny of
nlan of as grC?iti;1)l'c- Persian houses.
s l ~ o u l dbegirl to try After our return from tlle desert t o Astra-
m \ v h e t l x e r a sliivcrillg bad, I was often applied to for inedicille a11d
ase. advice, and did not reject the hoi~oumhlctitle
;ed w i t h apprel1e1l~iv1l.s of halcecn~,which was thrust upon rnc by sevc-
death i n all L I ~ I U S I I : ~ ~ ral of o~1racquaintances. At first, illdeed, I
L lancet t l ~ r o u g h a vt:i~i was diflideilt on the score of my abilities, bnt,
deem p E ~ l c b o t o ~ l1.c- ~y after protesting that my kilo~vledge of the
t o c o m e anrl o l ) o ~ t;t ~ noble art of healing was so very sliglit that it
you to s e e hill-1 ollcLr~ ought not to be called knowledge, I was over-
~ltient'sa r m , you inuy ~vllelmedwith coinpliments on my modesty; so
lraw t o o ~ l l u c l iblootl, calling t o mind the good success of my Italian
nger y o u c:m v c n turc acquaintance, I resolved also to have bew~icozcy,
ater y o ~ z l -rcptltaliiila. cle cozsruge, and to p u t tllc best face upoil tllc
sois d a n s L I I ~ C ~ I ~ x I ~ c ' , ' ' busilless.
ved, L ~ L L ~ . F;L
cC ' ; nn.iyc Tlle first inan who called ine in to see his
he d o c t o r , was n 1.0- " house" mas o m friend 14ossein Rouli ilg:~,
so Inan y 1li11ts i ~ l ~ o u t and I promised myself matter for n gootl chap-
bed upc331 llinl, :mil ter upon Persian harems, lcilowing t l ~ n tilly
to lliru ill t . 1 ~ fricnil had three weddecl. wivcs. I 11nii givoii
:areel; t L x cat for s o l l l p his chil~ia lucky dose f r o ~ n;I l)acIict: I l~ncl,
208 AN INVISIBLE PATIENT.

labelled for dilcl~e~z,

and the head lady of
establishment had been seized with a desire
to covsult me upon a cornplaint of long

I breakfasted at Rosseill ICouli Aga's b o ~ l s ~ p

and afterwnrds, when I expected t o be led, like
Baba Mustapha in the Arabian Nigllts, up-
stairs, down stairs, to my lady's chamber, I
found that I was not to go beyond t h a t ill
whicli we were seated. At the end of it was
a coininon slueen llang before a low door, and
fitom behind this was slowly thrust the w r i n k l e d
hand of an elderly woman, by feeling w h i c l ~
1 was to clecidc what ailment possessed the
body that it belonged to. 111 a moment v a n i s h -
ed the rolnnnce of marly days:-henna there
1573s 110 lack of, for the palm as well as the
finger-nails was dyed with it, but t h e hand
looked old eaough to belong to a g ~ a i l d l n o t h e:~
a touch was sufficient to convince me t h a t the
owner of it laboured under a cold c o m p l a i n t ;
and I tl~ereforeordered a hot remedy, a pill
of ginger to be taken twice a week ulltil t h e
patient felt a disinclination t o colltinue it.
After this, 111ypatients were chiefly of two
C ~ ~ ~ S S;Cthin
S inen who wished t o becolnc fat,
or old men who wanted t o be made yollllp
'+pin, and as I fo~lndinorc annoyqncc tllaIl
 PItESENTS TO OUR PIIIBNDS. $203

amuselnent ill such difficult cases, 1 gnvc

practice as far as I was able.
We dismissed Ai Doguedi with wll:lt hc
tho~lghta haildsome rewarcl, and, a ulcssuilger
li AP'S h o u s ~ ' , arriving at this tilne from tlle dcscrt, wit11
1 to b e lccl, lil.;tl* many civil messages from our frieizcl tlic Cazcc,
L ~ I N i g l l t s , YI-I- we bought a good quailtity of brown sugal;
fs c'l-~nmber, X and sent it a present to liir-0, with :L lcttcr of
b e y o n d tlmt i r r fine verses; and, anxious to prove oursclvcs
end of it wrts gratef~~ for
l tlle lcindrlcsses we 1i;tcl rcceivctl ill
1 low door, ~ ~ 1 3 ~ 1 their camp, ~ v sent
e some of our accluairit:~llccs
1st the wrinklcct parcels of tobacco, the slave-girl a gay I ) l i ~ l I i i ~ t ,
feeling w h i c 3 a and Ai Doguedi's motllc~*c.1 ],nil- of j):rrti-
possessed t f kcP coloured trousers.
-
n o l n e n t v a n i s 1I Orauz IZouli came to see us, ancl swstorc TFTd-
:-henna tllex-c * Zulb, Billth, TiZZah,* and b y a Iiost of Toorkislt
as well as tlltt* oaths, that he was i~inoccntof any ill-illten-
b u t the 1 1 n ~ r c I tion towards us. I3is kinsmen, Ile said, of
a gr:~~lilmoi;llcx-: whom lle was very much :~sl~t~nccl, f l;td <I(:-
:e rile t h a t the ceived him, mil he hail been t r y i i ~ gt o roctrvor
old complnint ; our money, but ~znfort~~nstcly t l ~ c yh : ~ ls p c ~ l t
relzlcrly, ;L ]>ifl it all. We did not believe hi111 in this, ally
~ v lllltil ~ k tl~e-b inore than we did tvlicn lie 1~roirlisc!cl to lay
n t i i ~ r z cit. lla~liisup011 tlieir prq)erty, nrld s d l it o z ~o u r
cllicfly of trvr.3 account ; but we coulcl do nothing: 11c -r.rl;is.sr*t..
to bc?c!omc f:tt, varll to t11e prince, .rvl~o:dkctecl to l ) c b chxtbrti~lg
llis nutliority on our bcllalf; it .c.vtrultl El:~vtd
 AUDIENCE WITI-I TIIE PRINCE.

been slighting that authority to 11ave laid hands

upon Oraua Kouli, and in any case we could
have done nothing with him. Indeed, as spring
was closii~g,we felt coiltent to bear the loss,
and say no more about it, so they would let
us depart; and we therefore intimated to the
Vuzeer, that it was positively necessary we
sllould continue our journey, and, after a little
demur, he fixed the second morning for an
audience ~ v i t hthe prince.
The usual skirmish about ralilr and place was
carried on between the Vuzeer and the Syud,
whic)~ended when the Vuzeer conceded points
which he f o ~ i g labout
~ t only for etiquette's sake,
and early in the morning we repaired to the
palace. TVe were kept waiting in a court of the
interior, until the prince's dignity had been well
'nigh lost in his impoliteness. When he conde-
scended to be ready to receive us, we were
tzshered into a small room, the walls of which
were covered with little pieces of mirror glass,
set close together, so as to multiply objects
without end. Near to a large open window of
stained glass, at the upper end, sat tile young
scion of royalty, on a small carpet, handsome in
appearance and dress, and leanipg in a studied
attitude upon n jewelled mace. T h e effect of
tlle mirrored walls was pretty, but @udy; how-
 TIlE SI-IAZADEFI'S CONDESCENSION. 205
h a v e laid hands
ever, seeing that he expected it, we were wollder-
c a s e we could
struck at the magnificence of the apartli~ent;
' n d e e d , as spring
the Syud expressed unqualified admiration, ancl
, b e a r the loss, the young Shazadeh very complacently said in
t l 1 e y would let
answer, that in no paliice in IrAn, with the ex-
t i r m a t e d t o the
ception of that of "the father of the world,"
l ~ e c e s s a r ywe
was there such a room. The Vuzeer stoocl
a f t e r a little
leaning on a stick close beneath the wilzdow, in
l o r l ~ i n g for an
a small c o ~ ~inr t which a fountain was playing,
aild from the back of which beautiful green
k = n d place was
swelling hills ran up to the foot of the woodccl
a n d the Syud,
mountains.
!onceded points
The prince, after welcoming us, and graci-
~ t i q ette's
u sake,
ously inquiring about the state of oui. health,
,epaired t o t h e
condescended to congratulate us 011 our good
n a c o u r t of the
fortune in escaping from the desert, and ex-
T h a d been well
pressed a hope that his Vuzeer had done all
Vh en he conde-
that was requisite for us. The Syud made a
! US, we were
suitable, indeed a most elegant reply, compli-
w a l l s of which mented the Vuzeer on his having a " Noorshe-
f m i r r o r glass, wan" for a master, and the prince on his having
ul t?-ply objects an " Aristoo"" for a minister ; quoted a couplet
)en window of signihative of the blessings that were enjoyed
sat t h e young
by a people governed -by a beneficent prince,
:, h a n d s o m e in and said that if we had been ill used in tile
b in a studied desert, we had been more than indemnified i n
The effect of the days of rest that we had enjoyed under the
; g a u d y ; how-
* Aristotle.
 A1

shadow of the Shazade11's autllority ; of tht

an d

-
]lis farour we liad all things, a n d that " A1-
llumdoolillall" having now to travel through wbon
tlie Shah's dominions, what was there to fear ! man-
Considering that our road onward lay throW11 his
8 country w1iicE1 a Persian travels " Tewokul who
be I<hoda," (specially trusting in Providence,) the I
this was pretty well ; it was suited however to durir
tlie capacity of the person to w h o m it was dagg
ncldressed, and was taken in such excellent pzrt lox-0~
by him, that he dismissed us with many civil T k
expressions ; and our frie~ldAllee Khan, who one
vras witness to the introduction froin a dis- man,
t;lncc, said, when we had regained our slippers, OUS ;

rind mcre walking home, Mashallah ! but t h e inxbil

Sbnzadeli was gracious t o you !" he w
This kind noblernan was a constant and most woul
amusing guest, and helped to pass Inany that law 7
would otllenvise have been weary hours. He worn
would drop in of an evening, and fight a battle ba11d
at clless, or, when more sentimentally inclirled, be g
he would chant out affecting passages of tile somt
Shkh-llameh. His voice was l i k e that of a form
bull, and, as he rocked his great body, and sang, syste
he ~ o u l dsometimes identify himself wit11 the stani
1le1-0 of a tragedy, till the tears ran doown his Zuri
rough cheeks into his black beard. Then CC ant
was ail old soldier, and could tell a good story thin4
 REPLY - ALLEE ICIIAN AND IIIS I-IALP-BROTHER. 207
9s a ~ l t l - l o r i t y; t h a t by of the Jung-e-Oroos, the war of the Russians ;
lings, and that " hl- and he introduced a half-brother of his own,
Iw to tl-avel througli whom he begged 11s to notice as a regular
at was these t o fc~lr! man-eater in battle, a sort of fellow who dyed
1 OnWar~'L lay tlisoug1r his whiskers with the blood of his enemies, and
Ln t r a v e l s " '.L'c~Ok~il who in the last war, not content with cleaving
sting in Providence,j the head of a Russian footman, dismounted
,as s u i t e d l ~ o w e v c to r during the fight, and haclced it off with his
son to w h o m it rrfts dagger, and then, hanging it to 16s saddlebow,
in s u c h excellcz~tf):~rt brought it off a present to the Xaib-e-Sooltaun.
d us with many civil There was another IQhan, who used to mnalre
2nd AlZee 1CIia11, .rvllrb one in our assemblies; a very gentlemanlike
~ o d u c t i o n froin L: dis- man, b~zta thorough Persian : he was very curi-
r e g a i n e d our s1il1l1r~1.s. ous about the world of the Franks, but had
cc M a s l l c z l l ~ t ~! ll ~ u ttl1c imbibed such strange notions about us, that
you !" he would hardly believe what I told him. H e
.s a c o n s t a n t allcl ~ntrst would not be persuaded that their matrimonial
ed to p a s s 111;1115' flint law was not reversed in Europe, and that every
:en w e a r y 1ioua.s. IIct woman might not take unto herself four 1111s-
ing, a n d fight :L 2):1ttlt* bands : he had read it in a book, and wo~zldnot
e11ti1nez-1 tally iricli~lutl, be gainsayed. I was able, I hope, to correct
cting - p a s s a $ ~ c s~f t]jl? some very erroneous ilnpressions that he had
was l i k e tli:~t a formed with regard to the laxity of our moral
great body, a t lrl sang, system, but there was no making him under-
itify l l i r n s c l f witll t l r t b stand the nature of the power exercised by
e tears r a r r <[r).rr*~l ])is European women. " I see your drift," he said,
ack beax-d. 'rhell llc? "and I admire i t ; you are right to put the
3uld t c f Z g ~ r l t htory
i thing in its best light, but you will not deny
 rests with your women ;
that the Iiooltz~m~ light,
you not women kings, and do you not wait on sont
women like slaves, and do whatever t h e y o r d e r ? B+en
-The world call goo Inen of u n d e r s t n n d i l ~ g; Z Y
do your women excel you in this respect, t h a t 11a1-e
you bow to them ?" A dissertation u p o n m o r a l beaut
fenlde excellence, and its consequent influellcc Ashh
over enlightened minds, would have been lost I: d
upon the Kllan, but I referred him to the days tervir
of Alexander the Great, when it was t h o u g h t the 3
no shame to be gallant as well as w a r l i k e ;-- 1ivex-e
" OIL! 0oi~Aakazlfil. boodu?zd," mas the reply, in RI
" they were infidels." latiom
The Iihan was a country gentleman, w l ~ o s c velop
world was colr~preheilded 1vithi11 the c i r c l e of the c
his horizon, and his notioas were c o ~ ~ t r a c t c c l t h e sc
accordingly ; but we ]nay still hope t h a t tlie that
natural gallantry of the Persians will be t ~ l r n c c l had -
into its proper channel, for the kuezilb&slles obl5gi
are quick at imbibing foreign ideas, and t h e offer
reaction of their present unworthy system and t
should be sudden and romaatic. A t Tabreez put 1
I had the honour to visit one of the F r i n c c s returi
Royal, who in the course of conversatioil said, I wa
with a very good accent, wl1ic11 he had lenrnccl enst w
from an intriguing old French lady, who llad A7
settled herself in Persia with a view to en- whicl
" Authority. t h e sj
VO'
 'I'IONS O F ~UROPSANS. ItUSSIAN LETTER. 809

w i t h y OLUw o m e n ; have lightell the natives, Nos pauvres femmes

;Ind do you not wait on sent emp~.isonnCes!" W e may yet see the
0"
tn(j do ivlxntever they order ? of the East breaking lances for their
,crtl lfien of uiidei-standing ; Zylees and Zuleilrhas, and the light of a
in t h i s r e s p e c t , that l~arern,seated in all the pride of her displayed
,I dissertation upon inoral beauty, as the presiding divinity at some
;alclits influence Ashby-de-la-Zouch- !
i~lds,~ o u l d h a v e been lost I think it was a day or two before o w in-
:I hiin to t h e days terview with the prince, that a Toorkmun of
: ~ ~ :w~ h t ,e n it w a s thought the Jaffer B'i tribe inquired our abode, and de-
ili~llt: t ~ ~ v e l as
l w a r l i k e ;-.- livered a letter into 111y hands. It was written
s lio~dtutrt," was the reply, i n Russian, but fortunately there was a trans-
t1
lation of its contents in Persian on the en-
ccrlllrtry g e n t l e l n a n , whose velope, and its purport was this :-the writer,
L-lldcd w i t l l i n t h e circle of the commandant of a Russian brig lying off
is ~lotiolls w e r e contracted the south-east coast of tlie Caspian, had heard
c nlny still h o p e t h a t tlie that a Russian envoy, on his way to Ichiva,
the Persians will b e turned had been piulldered by the Toorkmuns, and
~ n n d ,for t h e lru zzilbAshes obliged to return to Astrabnd: he begged to
ing f o r e i g n ideas, and the offer a passage on board his ship to Astralrhan :
yrcse~lt r ~ n w o r t h y system and the bearer of the note said that he would
Jlld romantic. A t Tabreez put me in the vay of getting on board. I
10 visil: one of the Princes returned a civil answer in French, saying that
'course of c o l l v e r s a t i o l l said, I was not a Russian, and that my road lay .
bent, ~ v l r i c h h e h a d learned eastward.
I,I~ F i v e n c h lady, who had A' Mo'inud Ca~lsimhad a series of dreams,
/crsi:t w i t h n view to en- which incited him to undertake a pilgrimage to
the shrine of the blessed Imaum Reza ; and as
VOL. I. P
210 PILGRIMAGE TO MESI-IED.

knew the road to the holy city, we were not

sorry lvhen lle announced his i ~ ~ t e n t i oof~ W-
l
companying us. His partner also expressed SO
strong a desire to perform an act of devotion
after his visit to the uilclean dogs of t h e desert,
that we promised him a seat on one of the
baggage mules, and we were all i n spirits a t the
idea of a march. Meshed-e-Norouz, wbose in-
tentioil it had been to part from us here, could
not resist the general impulse, and though be
did not care a fig for all the I m a u ~ n si n tlie
world, he determined to accompany us.
The Vuzeer, flattered I imagine b y the Syud's
eulogium, made an effort, and seized three of
Bnbeclc's camels, which he sold on our account,
in the bazaar, for twelve toinauns. T h e person
whom he sent oil this service was a tall ragged
fellow, who rode a leari jade, a n d cari*ied a
matchloclc about three times as long as hiinself;
he trotted out to Goorgaun in the morning, arid
brought in the camels i n the afternoon, which
was alone sufficient to satisfy us t h a t there was
a good understanding between t h e court aud
camp. Orauz ICouli brought five tomnuns,
wllich he had collected, he said, i n i n thousand
difficult ways ; and w e not only gave tlle
Vuzeer an acquittance i n full for all our losses,
but added some extravagant compliments to
E TO MESIIED. PARTING REGRETS. 21 1
h o l y city, we were not himself, mid sent our dutiful thanks to the
need h i s intenti011 of ac- prince. We spent the eve of our departure
; partner a l s o expressed so pleasantly with all our friends, and I believe
,form an act of devotion that some of the expressions of regret which
ncIean d o g s of t h e desert, I were used on both sides at parting were
m a s e a t on o n e of the sincere.
e were all in spirits nt the
shed-e-Norouz, whose in-
part from us here, could
impulse, and t h o u g h he
t all t h e Imaums i n the
:o slccolnpany us.
I I imagine by t h e Syu as
brt, and s e i z e d three of
b 11e sold on our account,
r.e t o i n a ~ t n s . T h e person
service was a tall ragged
call jade, arid carried a
times as long as himself;
p u n in t h e morning, and
ill t h e a f t e r n o o n , which
satisfy u s t h a t there was .
between the court aqd
b r o u g h t five tomauns,
3, he said, in a thousand
we not only gave the
in full for all our losses,
avagant compliments to
 212 DEPAlETTIRE FROM ASTICABAD.

CHAPTER X.

Departure froln AStr&ad.-Entertained at ZiarLIC. --The

Caliph's Rocl(.-Ralt at EIuft c C h e s h m a ~ l . - C o l 1 ~ 0 ~
of~ ~ ~
Pilgril1ls.-Inquisil;ive Travellers.-The Shah's Army.-
Province of Bostam.-Surprise of the Vuzeer.-Persian
Prejudices. -A ludicrous Mistalre. -Audience of
Prince.-The Vuzeer's Levee.-Persian mode of Singing.
-Cuavan of Pilgrims.-Route to Meshed.-Village of
Meyomeh. - Disagreements in the Camp.- D n ~ ~ g c r o u s
. . Defile. -Cowardly Guards. -Village of Abbass5~bad.-
Noisy Quarters.-Good-Ruinour restored.-Arab \%'onwn.
-A false Alarm.-An amusing Fight.

PILGRIMS for the holy city of Meshed, as-

semble a t Shahrood-e-Bostam, t o which place
there are two roads froin Astrabad. The first;, we s
called the I<oosloolr route, is eighteen f u r s u k h r . SO 3-r
it is the best and the most level road, b ~ l tit .
runs near the Toorkmuns' lla~xnts,and we pre-
ferred that by Ziarut. The latter i s c a l l e d
sixteen fursulrhs, but the first part of it is v e r y
hilly and bad. The two roads beconIe ..:cle
about thirty-tlwee miles from Sl~ahrood. ten 1
12th June 1830.-We took a second leave of
Astrabad, and rode south b y a pass throrrgh t h e
 1 ENTERTAINED AT ZIARUT. 213
mountains, twelve miles to Ziarut, a village of
fifty wood houses, romantically built upon a
small hill coining out illto the centre of the
narrow valley. At the foot of the village, in
a neat burying-ground, was the tomb of an
Imaun~zada; a quicls. clear stream ran past it,
and on either side rose high and richly-wooded
at Ziarut. -The
mountains. Our path from Astrabad was
ah.-Concourse of tllrough a wood thick enough to shade us from
: Shah's Army.- the sun, and led us continually over a stream
Vuzeer.-Persian called Chehel-o-Chahar (forty-four), from the
Audience of the
. mode of Singing. circumstance of its being crossed that number
:shed.-Village of of times on the way to Ziarut. A' Mo'mud
amp.- Dangerous Causiin found a friend in the village, who
of Abbassabad. - welcomed us with a speech tliat would have
d.-Arab Women.
done honour to a courtier ; he regaIed us with a
dish that Tiberius would have given a reward
~f Meshed, as- for, a pullet stewed in conserve of wild pome-
o wlaich place granate, and in his neatly mud-washed house
3d. The first, we slept secure froin the attacks we had suffered
teen fursukhs : so much from at Astrabad.
!1 road, but it 13th.-About two rr~ilesfrom our resting-
, and we pre- place, we co~lzmencedthe ascent of a very steep
ltter is called ICotul over the main range of the Elborz. So
rt of it is very freq~rent are the windings, that the natives
3 become ~:ne esteem the passage from base to base equal to
,brood. ten miles. The soil is loamy, and in wet wea-
~ c o n dleave of ther lade11 inules have difficulty in ascending this
3s t h r o ~ g hthe pass; in dry weather, guns might be got over
but labour. O n the road are four spril1gs
of delicious water, named Sherbet, Seah PCbanee,
Tnloo, and I<oor Cheshmah; t o the left of the
iscent, beyond t h e first spring, are t w o large
masses ofmcli thirty or forty yards a p a r t , which
me mere bidden t o reinarli, as On o n e ,
Tukh t-e-Omar (the throne of Omar), the Caliph
is believed to have sat and fired a r r o w s at t h e
other: the most sceptical man may see the 1 n a ~ k s
of the arrow-heads in the sides of the s t o n e ;
but it would be deemed an act of s ~ ~ ~ e r e r o g a t i o l l
were 11c to inquire how or when the C a l i p h came
there, or why he assatrlted the rock. It w a s a
poetical spot, for all the trees being " Narwand,"
my frielld t l ~ eS y ~ l dpersuaded hiinself that it
was the very spot whence Feridoon issued t o
lead his band of heroes into Hhorassaun, and,
his blood warming a t the conceit, he started off
wit11 the quofation in point, a n d c h a n t e d a page
of Ferdosi's beautiful verses.
The day was lovely, and w e all felt s o e x c i t e d ,
that we soon spurred our ponies up t h e ascent.
From the summit, we looked back upan the
rich forest we l ~ n dpassed through : it lay
below lls, partly overhung b y a curtdll of
white clouds, into which the birds w o u l d ocoa-
siorlally dip, be lost till they s o a r e d ;
and beyolld, like n sea, was t h e desert, strctcll-
 .e four springs ing away without end to the north. Turning,
, Seal1 IChanee, we had before us another range, as high, but
,lie left of the quite bare, and with snow in its clefts. W e
are two large passed the last spring near the foot of the
Is apart, which ICotul, and, descending into a valley, travelled
on one, called up a brook which came through it from the
I=), the Caliph north-east. On a hill, opposite to the base of
L arrows at the the ICotul, were two villages, said to consist of
r see the marks three hlandred houses each ; three miles up the
of the stone; vale was a hamlet of five or six houses, called
supererogatiolz Jillen Billen, and a mile beyond i t our road
be Caliph came was joined by the other from Astrabad. The
)ck. It was a valley, which was at first stony, improved gra-
ig cc Narwand," dually, and at " Iluft Cheshmah,"* where we
~iinselfthat i t halted, i t was a greensward between the hills,
loon issued to kept fresh by the springs which gave name to
IorassaLIn, and, the spot. So cold was it, that, with all our cloth-
, he started off ing, and b y a large fire, we could hardly sleep.
chanted a page 14th.-From Huft Cheshmah to Shahrood,
we rode something Inore than thirty miles
felt so excited, througl~a valley. With the exception of one
ap the ascent. steep but short hill, the road was level, and
~acls:upon the there was no lack of good water all the way.
ough : it lay Eight miles on the road, we saw a village of
a curtain of fifteen houses under the hill on our left, called
Is would occa- Taush ; sixteen iniles on the road was a smaller
soared again ; one, Nicarinun. There are but few villages in
iesert, stretch- cR Scven springs.
21 6 CONCOURSE OF PILGRIMS.

these hills, and those of not inany houses each :

t h e inhabitants pasture large flocks in thevalleys,
arid portion out parts of the land for cultiva-
tion ; tlieir surplus produce is cl~ieflysold at
Shahrood. I n the no riling we had been glad to
stand round a fire, b u t when towards sunset we
neared Bostain, the wind blew like a hot one
in India. W e left the town of Bostain three
miles on our left, and, crossi~lga small line of
low bare hills, looked down upon Shahrood.
Travellers who had lnet us, had told of many
pilgrims waiting for the morrow to start for
T~leslled; and, coming up011 the town, we
thought o~lrselvesjust in time. Horses were
piclieted the entire length of the outer wall,
and there was a constant throng of men and
horses accoutred for travel between the centre
gate anti a pool of water a t some little distance
outsicle it. TVithin, the concourse was much
greater: there was scarcely a passage through the
crowd of pilgrims, horses, and camels that filled
t h e streets. Outside the houses, in the shade,
sat some reading the ICorBn aloud, while others
lay sleeping soundly after their travel. I11 all
parts horses were neighing and fighting, their
masters scrubbing or shoeing them, inending
paclrsaddles, or higgling for corn and chopped .
straw; and many a sturdy fakeer, a sugar-
 INQUISITIVE TlEAVELLERS. 217
Iny l ~ o ~ l s each
es :
loaf cap of colours set over his matted locks
!ks i n t~levalleys, and with insolently independent countenance,
L~CIfor cultiva- moved through the crowd, calling loudly upon
L chiefly
, solcl at the pilgrims t o recollect the service they were
h a d bceil g l i ~ dto upon, and bestow their alms in the name of
w a r d s sunsct we Mohuinmud, Allee, and the blessed I m a u m
I like n hot oilc RCza. Many were the inquiries as we pushed
k Bostaln tlirce througll the crowd, wlience we came : I' We're
a s ~ n a l lline of for &!feshed," was our answer. "Inshallah," please
God, " eltamas-e-dewa ;"--the <' ora pro nobis" of
nad told of ilz:uly the pilgrims of the cross. 6cW h a t time do the
Low to start fur Zawars set out ?" inquired we. " They go
t h e town, .rlrc daily," was the answer. fi I3ut tl~osewho are
I-Iorses were to go to-morrow ?"-" They went last night, a
outel- wall, body of five hundred horsetnen and more."
This was a disappointment, and we gathered
no comfort froin the words of an old man, who
, e little distance said, I suppose more to show that he had per-
formed the meritorious act of pilgrimage than
to console us, " They're certainly gone, but tve
set out-a large party-the day after to-morrow
for I~phahaun.~'
A'Mo'inud Causiin had a second house and
wife here, and we were well lodged. Meshed-e
Norooz fouild a Tabreez acquaintance, who,
abusing the gone party for Isphahannees and
cowards, invited us to start on the morrow with
his pmty of tllirty or forty well-armed Toorks,
 218 THE SHAII'S ARMY.

and this we detcrrnined t o do. The T a b r e e z e e s ,

and tlle Persians of the western c o u n t r i e s a r e
called Toorks, on account of their talking t h e
Toorkisli language. They are looked upon as
regular Rolandos, and it is a joke with t h e m ,
that the 'Ihrtars, when they come t o a t t a c k a
kafilah, call out t o know if they a r e T o o r I i s o r
I s ~ ~ l ~ a l ~ m nthat
e e s , they may know w h e t h e r to
leave or to attack thein.
15th.-It was resolved to wait t h e a r r i v a l of
o r ~ chundred inore Tabreezees, w h o w e r e re-
po1.ted to be within two days' march, and we
llad leisure to see the place. S h a l l r o o d i s a
~valledtow11 of twelve l-lundred r e s i d e n c e s and
store-houses, and three Iiundred shops. I t is in
tlie district of Bostam, and four m i l e s s o u t h -
west from the town of the same name, w h e r e
the llakiin resides. There a r e two other sinall
towils (Moojiin and Aversudge) in t h e district,
and eiglit walled villages were in s i g h t from
Shahrood. The provi~lceof Bostam f u r n i s h e s
four tl~ousanclregular footmen t o the Shall's
army, ~ v h oreceive from eight to t e n t o m a u n s
each, yearly; they are esteemed a m o n g the
best of the royal troops, and are k n o w n b y the
name of Lnshkur-e-Arab'o Ajum (Arab and
Persian), for there are many families o f Arab
extraction resident in this province, t h e n a t i v e s
 PROVINCE OF BOSTAM. 91 9
of Shahrood said as many as four thousand.
They are chiefly of the Ameri tribe, the re-
mainder of twelve thousand tents brought from
Arabia during the Bunnee Abbass Khalifate ;
now they live in houses, and, with the excep-
tion of a few of the oldest men, talk Persian."
The hilkim of Rostam keeps a few soldiers in
pay, and the inl~abitants,obliged often to he on
the alert against the Toorkmuns, furnish every
t; tile a r ~ i v : ~of'l third man for the Eeljaurree.? A fine stream,
W ~ I C I %vc;rv w- called, par excellence, Rood-e-Shah, canes from
marell, ;tlltl ~ V C the mountains past Bostam to Shahrood, and
Slirtllrooc'i is a enables the inhabitants to force a considerable
r e s i c l e ~ ~ c c:111tl
~s quantity of cultivation from what would other-
s l l o p s . I t Is ill wise be a sterile gravelly plain, for water is
-3.1-inilcs st rtltll- not to be had here for digging. The thermo-
C I C II:LITI~, wc'jierc! meter in the shade at noon, on the three days of
t ~ v oot l i c r s111t1ll our stay, was 81g Fahrenheit ; we were told
) in tIw district, that the heat of the next two months would
ixi sigl~tfionl be extreme.
: ~ s t n i r l fiirrrislrcs Good fruits are grown, and much cultivation
1 t o tl1c s11:ll~'s is carried on at the villages of the vicinity, and
t o tcxi t i , r t i ; t u ~ ~ s care is taken to have large supplies stored in
le(l it1 ll<$llg t l l l b Shahrood. Owing to the frequent forays of the
;
. kr~clwxllry tile Toorkmuns, few sheep are kept here, b~aethey
i I X I ~ ( A r;ilk ;11it1 are to be procured at a, low price from the neigh-
txnilicvi t11' .Init) * A t Tubbus, ILauin, Besjencl, and Nkliee, are settlecl
L ~ C C '1, J I C ~~ l i i t i ~ ~ q innny Arabs, who still retain their own dialect. t Militia.
220 ALARM OF THE VUZEER-

bouringvalleys. For eight inontl1s in every year,

dating from the vernal eq~linox, this road to
and froin Afeshed is travelled b y sixty thou-
sand persons, chiefly pilgrims ; and it is t o be
remarlred, that though much of t h e country is
desert, every little station 011 the road furnishes
supplies for this number of persons and their
cattle. T h e calculation, I am pretty sure, is
not too high: i t was made by my companion,
as well from the accounts we received on t h e
road as from his knowledge, previously ac-
quired during fifteen years residence in various
parts of Irlln, of the average departure of pil-
grims for Afeslied from different places in Persia. con t;
16th.--Early this morning the Syud and I of-I' ;
rode to Dostain, to present introductory letters
t o the Shahzadeh. W e alighted at the house
of the Quzeer, who was asleep, and might n o t
be disturbed; .so we went t o sleep also on t h e
floor of t h e room into which we were shown, -
until i t pleased the minister to be roused. H e cr~t
could not then, it seemed, imagine what t h e VII?
deuce a foreigner had to do in this part of t h e civil
world : " Inglis ! Inglis !" we heard him say t o as 1
his servants,-" a Feringhee a t Bostam ! ! in my
room ! ! ! W h a t news is this?" and I hardly t h i n k
he would have ventured in, had not the S y u d
gone out, and in some degree explained t o him
 RELIGIOUS I'R.EJUDICES. 221
in cVC'l.y yXr, who I was, and what was the object of our
q L l i n ~ ~this , r 0 : l d to coming. Then the old gentleman was very polite,
lellecl by sisty t11011. gave us high seats, and ordered us breakfast,
.ims ; and i t is to bo and went to announce our arrival to the prince.
l the ccnilltry is
~ c l of Iris servants were far less civil, and would
o n tIlc ror~clf ' t ~ r t ~ i s l t ~ ~ scarcely give me a plate to eat from ; telling
of pcrsalls ;u)tl tl~cir the Syud, supposing me ignorant of the Ian-
[ pretty sut'c8,is guage, that it must be broken afterwards. I
je b y rny ctnlil~:u~io~l, only now discovered, that, during my residence
; we r e c e i v e d oil tho at Astrabad, every plate, not china or metal,
-dge, -previo'ts1!. :I(!- upon which I had been unwary enough to
s i r l vririous lay hands, had been broken, and charged to
a g e depasturc* of' 1)il- m y account. China being hard baked, the
&rentplnccs i l l I 'lsl'sii1, coi~taminationof impure hands inay be tvaslled
i n g t h c Sy~lc'I:tlrtl I off; but into any thing soft i t is s ~ p p o s e d
t i n t r o d u c t o r y 3c1ttcrs to sinlr. The clause is in favour both of con-
.liglitecl a t t l t t * 11ousc science and economy.
sleep, a n d 111ig:'lltilot The Vuzeer shortly returned, to say that
t o sleep :tlso o r ] the the prince would exalt our lieads by granting
lich xvc urcre s l ~ t r w ~ ) , us the honour of an audience. Shortly after,
er to X)c rcrtlsc*tl. Jl'c entered a fat smiling IChai~, to whom the
1, i ~ l ~ ~ l g1i~ lJ li i~l ttilt! Vuzeer made sign to desire liiln to be
o i n i-llis p i u . P of"1te civil to us ; he tools; me for a NIoollA of degree,
we IIC~LIYI l i i ~ t rh;iy to as I sat at the upper end in a blaclr serge abba,
!c at .l3ost:a111 ! ?i l l 111y and coming up to me, took my liands and
3" a ~ l r Il 1i:trdlt. t l l i ~ ~ k reverently kissed them. The Vuzeer's black
I, liad 11ot t l t r h Syud eyes expanded to double their size, and when
'rce ~x1)1:li1lctl
t t , llitll the Khan turned, he was made awarc of his
222 A LUDICROUS MISTARE.

mistake. He loolced quite sbocked at dis-

covering what unclean hands he had pressed
his lips to, and, going over to the Vuzeer,
begged in a loud whisper that, for the honour
of their religion, the story might go no f ~ l r -
ther ; but the old gentleman's chucltle made i t
evident that it mas too good a one to be k e p t
secret, and, as good anecdotes must be scarce fro117
at so quiet a place, I have no .doubt that the S n tl
ICban's reverence for an infidel has been a In r ~t
standing joke ever since. becu
This wortlly gentleman bore tbe title of i n cle
" Nussuckshee B$sheen to the Shahzadell, a are I
sort of Earl Marshal, and it was his part t o lead S 0lI-lI

us to the presence. W e were conducted into a like

long walled squase, near one end of which w a s ignc
a sinall cannon, and a long musket gun. It est
was evidently intended that we should observe 5kue
this park of artillery, foi; looking up, we per- ELI3 01
ceived the Prince, seated at an open window abo.
above an archway, watching our motions : be
we bowed, and were graciously ordered up : Pra
the Earl Marshal led us with much affecta- Ilea
tion under tlle archway, and proposed that we trie
should leave our shoes there : but we k e p t sior
thein to ascend a flight of dirty steps, u p which EL
we mounted to the door of the audience are
chamber, and, passing through a body of re- V u
 AUDIENCE 01: TJJll PlLlNCE. 223
ed q u i t e shocked at dis- tainers, found ourselves in a small m ud-plas-
can h a l l d ~h e llad pressed tered rooin, at the end of which sat the Prince
ling o v e r to the Vuzeeig, as we had observed him from the court below.
hisper t h a t , f o r t h e honour Wit11 the affectation which is common to the
le s t o v m i g h t go no fur- Cijjer princes, he addressed us at first in Toork-
entlelnan7s chuclrle made it ish, telliiig 11s that we were '(khosh geldin ;"but
too a o n e to be kept h e assigned us seats at an honourable distance
a n e c d o t e s m u s t b e scarce from his person, and, presently spealiing to us
I have n o . d o u b t that the in the Persian language, displayed more infor-
Ir an i n f i d e l has been a ination about European affairs than we had
nce. been iilclined to give hiin credit for, or than
tleman b o r e the title of indeed is usual for princes of tlie blood. They
ee" to t h e S h a h z n d e l ~ ,a are inen of very much the same stamp ; hand-
and it w a s his part t o lead some, and, as regards their exterior, gentleinail-
W e w e r e conducted into a like persons, who are brought up proudly and
)ear one e n d of w h i c h was ignorantly in the harem, tliough in the stdct-
1 a long m u s k e t g u n . It est knowledge of the minutia: of Persian eti-
Led that w e s h o u l d observe quette. They condesceild a few civil questiolls
, for, l o o k i n g up, we per- about yourself, and as many ignorant ones
2ated a t a n open window about Yankee dooiiia (America, or as it may
w a t c h i x ~ g our motions : be rendered, the world of the Yankees), and
re g r a c i o u s l y ordered up: Frangestan, always expressing astonishment on
2d us w i t h ~ n ~ affecta- ~ c h hearing that the latter is a term for more coun-
ray, and proposed that we tries than one. Wonderful ! is their expres-
loes t h e r e : but we kept sion when they are told any thing about
;lit of dirty steps, up which Europe that is novel to them ; wonderful men
l e door of the audience are the Feringees ! ! ! Wonderful ! repeats tlie
lg t h r o u g h a body of re- Vuzeer, and the more humble persons of the
 assembly shake their heads at each ot1ler, T11
echo the word. of a 1
The Vuzeer was ordered to give us i12tl.o: body
ductory letters to the Princeyscousin a t Subza- ~OI-te
war, and, taking this as a hint to rise, we niade shoul
our bow, and accompanied the minister to his sein.
office, where he had a levee ; arid the man who owin
but a moment before had stood at a respect- place
ful distance from his master, leaning f'orwnrcl men
to catch the least word from his lips, had now Zrlm,
entirely clianged his bearing, and sat above an requ
asse~nblyof obseqtiious inferiois, whose looks he X n or1
' scarcely condescended to return. d%s
IK-I
While our letters were being written, wc mise
were entertained with the notes of a vocalist, our :
who, as candidate for the part of first performer 2;a ~
at the coming religious festival of t h e Mo- Mes
I hurr~xm,was giving a specimen of his ponrcrs : E=%
they were qnite stunm~ing. T h e excellence of TY10r
Persian singing consists in forcing tlie voice to I'
its loudest pitch, and sustaining i t there: it is mil6
rather recitative than singing9 and it is too lxun
strained and violent to please a European part
ear, yet t l ~ ebest singers throw great; expres- the1

sion into their songs. They dwell l o n g up011 XCal

every sound, and frequently run down t l ~ c o f a
gamut, slowly trilling upon every note, s o n ~ c - wer
times weeping a t the effect of their orvn 1nc1sic.
 PERSIAN MODE OP SINGING. 225

The man who was before us had all the air

of a maniac, as, with a hand behind his ear, his
to give u s i11l1.0. body swayed to sand fro, and his features dis-
; cousin a t Sul)zn. torted by the violence with which he sang, he
; to rise, mc nlutle shouted out the sorrows of the martyred Hos-
:IC nliliistcr to his sein. This loud fashion of singing mnst be
nncl the TII:LII 1~11,) owing to the distance a t which performers are
ant1 :LC ;L I ' C S ~ ( ~ C I . placed when singing before the king, or great
Ic:uliug forw:irtl men; when, as at the festival of the Mohur-
liis lips, no\v rum, they chant in the open air, they indeed
n11c1 s a t :ll)ovo 311 require Stentorian lungs. The singer of this
rs, w l ~ o s c10t)IisIlc morning insde so much noise, that the Vuzeer
'11. dismissed him with a compliment, and pro-
?ing ~ v r i t t e ~~i Y, C mised to recommend him to the Prince. On
kcls of :i voc.;~li,r, our return to Shahrood, we found that many
of first pc~rforl~~cr Zawars* had come in, and cc such Zawars" said .
va1 of the $lo. Meshed-e-Norouz, " each with his gun, and an
xi of liis I1otvclr.C: English lock to it."-Departure fixed for the
'he cxc*elI r ~ ~ cof c MOrl'OW.
rcing t l i u vckc tn 17th. I n the afternoon, we rode out three
ng i t t1lrr.c : it: i\ miles to the village of B~tddusht,where three
;, :t11(1 it is to[) hlindredpilgrims were assembled. A third of the
1st :I l~:llr.~~~li~:~ll partywere Arabs from the vicinity of ICerbolah ;
1w gre;tt 1 .'I )r4'x*
, ' A
there were sixty horsemen from Tabreez and
Jtircll long ltprn Icarabaugh; and the rest, with the exception
ruil r'lo~vri lllc of a dozen men from Tehraun and Isphahaun,
wry l~oti),k 1 ~ 1 1 c ~ - were Cazazees, who were headed by a Moojete-
t11c:ir owl1 r i ~ ~ t b i c . * Pilgrims.
VOI,. I. Q
226 CARAVAN OF 1'1LGR.IMS.

lleid, or high priest, a thin old gentleman, P

a black cloak and pointed beard, the lower shat
of whom was lost in a pair of h u g e R ~ l s s i a l l coc
leather boots. The Toorks were w e l l armed bea
and mounted ; some of the Cazazees were i n ed,
like trim, but the Arabs were the worst equip- TaI
ped and most ragged set of beings imaginable. t l e~
One old mail at their head, who wa"s dignified sioi
with the name of h&jee,had a m a t c l ~ l o c l ~and
, ko r
was well mounted; of the rest, some r o d e in- am1
different mares, others donkeys, a n d half a whj
dozen couples of old women, packed in kajnvalls, did
were slung on the sides of mules ; s o m e of the an.
nlen had an ass between them, ride and tie, a la
and a dozen or so of the poorest, armed like wit
their Inore fortunate brethren, w i t h knives, ans
axes, or sticlrs, went on foot, trusting t o cha- lcee
rity for an occasional lift. 1
Till sunset, tllosc who had guns exercised ed
themselves in firing at a target : very few shots the
took effect, but it was agreed on all hands that Bu
he must be a bold enemy who w o u l d attack t o p
US ; indeed, to 1001s: at these heroes with their T o
rolls of matches, and innumerable c a r t o u c h and j us
flint boxes, belted over their clothes, you rail
might have supposed that they were prepared to to r
stand a good fight, and I believe some of t;llcln har
almost persuaded themselves that t h e y woL1ld.
 ROUTE TO MESHED. f 27
kenelernan, with 110011, the i.bermometer was 814' in the
[ the lower half
I shade, But ill the evening a cutting wind blew,
F huge Russian Cookine;-pots being cleared away, and the
!ere well armed beasts laden, the order of march was determin-
azazees were in ed, and at half past eight we made a start, the
Ihe worst equip- Tabreezees leading, and the Arabs bringing up
ngs imaginable. the rear, the chaoushes* heading their divi-
I
w& dignified sions, and striving to keep thein separate. The
matchlock, and horses walked out, and the mules and donkeys
C,some rode i11- ambled along surprisingly under loads some of
Is, and half a which were immense, as there were many who
lked in kajavahs, did not disdain to add profit to piety. I asked
Ls ; some of the an Astrabad acq~~aintance, who was seated upon
h, ride and tie, a heavy bale of felts, how his mule lcept up

trest, armed like

, with knives,
trusting to cha-
with such a load. H e must keep up, was the
answer, giving a thump to his beast ; he must
keep up, for there's danger in lagging.
Four miles from Buddusht we passed a ruin-
I- guns exereisell
very few shots
ed town called IChireabad. W e were told that
(.
there was water there, and that the men of
)n all hands that Buddusht used it to cultivate land, having built
10 would attack towel-s, into which to retreat in case o f the
eroes with their Toorkmuns coming. Our line of march was
ble carto~zchand just distinguishable in t l ~ edark, by the dust
1- clothes, yo11 raised by our horses' feet, which the wind blew
were prepared to to one side like a vapour : occasionally a calleoon,
,e some of then1 handed about, would liglit up the heads of n
at they would. * A cl~aoushis n leader oTo caravan, or a part,y.
Q 2
228 VILLAGE OF MEY0MEI-I.

party, as the strong wind blew the coals up,

and t h e front of the line was always s l l ~ w nby
the Rloojetel~eid'spipeinan, below t h e belly of
wliose horse swang a pot of live charcoal- W e
marched all night over a tolerably level and
good road, and at daybreak halted a quarter of
an hour for prayers.
Continuing our march till seven, we reach-
ed Meyomeh, a village of two h u n d r e d houses,
at which there is an excellent brick caravansera
built by Shah Abbass. W e got w h a t we re-
quired for ourselves and horses, a n d even fruit,
plums and peaches. The oilly article a t Meyo-
me11 which bore a l~ighprice, was fire-wood,
~vhich indeed was hardly to b e obtained in
sufficient quantities. The village is near a
range of bare hills, from which is conducted a
small canaut of good water : this, after daily
filling two bricli reservoirs, is t u r n e d upon very
unpromising lookii~gland, but which generally
returns wheat and barley ei~oughfor t h e wants
of the pilgrims who pass ; in times of scarcity fo
supplies are brought from Shahrood. The W
distance between the two places is about forty CZ'
miles. Tl~ermoznetera t noon, 82" Fahrenheit ; tr:
light, cool wind.
We slept till evening under t h e sllade of
fit'
trees. As the tizne for setting off again ap- ti1
 DISAGREEhlENTS I N THE CAMP. 229

w the coals u p , proaclled, the ~ r a b sbegan to complain that

ltvays s h o w n by they were knocked up : the Toorlts, they said,
low the belly ctf went too fast, and would not halt for any one
: c h a r c o a l . Xrc whose load fell, and by their uricharitable con-
?rably l e v e l alld. duct were defeating tlie object of their pil-
lted a q u a ~ t e ofr grimage. The Tabreezees, however, seemed
to think that the one great act was meritorious
;eVe11, w e reach- enough to excuse all their peccadilloes, and,
h u n d r e d houses, knowing the esteem their fighting qualities
,rick carava17Scr;t were held in, said very cavalierly that they
-ot what wc re- would go, tliose who ~vouldmight accolnpany
, a n d even fruit, them, and those who would not, might choose
article at Meyo- their ow11 time. T h e lligll priest, a timorous
, fire-wood, old man, harangued them all on brotherly con-
be o b t a i n e d in cord, and the cliaoushes addressed soothing
~llage is near t t words to their several parties ; a Persian's ire
11 is conducted a is soon run out, and, after a due quantity of
this, a f t e r claily noise and wrangling, they moderated tl~eirlan-
urned u p o n vcry wuage, and it was agreed that we should keep
a
w h i c h g e n e m l ly together, the i h a b s to lead.
qh f o r t h e w a n t s We set out about eight o'clock, and.travelled
,imes of scarcity four miles to a large sycamore tree, near to
s h a h r o o d . Tllcx which is a village called Ibrahimabad, and a
Ies is a b o u t f o r t y canaut of water, and where a road branches off
88" F a h r e n h e i t ; to D~~sgird.*Here there was a halt and a
* Dusgircl mas statecl to be a village of three hundred and
2r t h e s h a d e af firty houses, ~vhcrcthcrc are mnlly gatclcns, ancl ficlcls oTcu1-
~g o f f again 31)- tivnlion, ~vallctlin for Ikur ol' tllc Toori;muns. lly this rout1
230 DANGEROUS DEFILE.

dise~~ssion ; some were for t u r n i n g baclc alld az1c

marching by daylight, that they m i g h t a t least ma
see their enemy; this march b e i n g esteemed a of
dangero~lsone, because the road nearly all the ' till
way is flanked by swelling hillocks, behindwllicl~ t'v a!
the Toorlcmuns lie concealed. F i n d y , it was due
resolved to go 011 a Tewokul be Khoda,"" tlle hill
Arabs to return to their formel. station in the by
rear, as the horses pressed on their donkeys in tlie out
dark, and a party to precede the m a i n body one an3
hundred yards or so. W e were f o r t u n a t e enougli por
t o get upon this desperate service, a n d so esenlle afte
the dust. A call was made for tliose who had hen
guns, and it was a farce to see the ilnportarlcc tall
that some laid upon the act of going a few had
yards in front. " I'll go," said one upon an goc
ambling donkey, carrying a l o n g duck-gua, sex-'
I'llgo, I thailk Heaven I've no w i f e with me, am.-i
that I should wish to spare myself-dispose of WO
me," as if, a second Marcus C U S ~ ~ L IIqe S , was C017
going to ride post t o destruction. C o i ~ t i n u : ~ l the
halts for charity's salce, till the alarm wns given lax2
of a horseman said to have been s e e n l o o l i i l ~ ~ got
ant from behind the hills :--horses, donkeys, ani
from Meyomcll t o Al)l)ns-
it is said to be twenty f~~rsulths a nJ
r
sabad. The two routes are distinguished by thc liurllcs 01'
thc Dusgird and the Alhauk roads. is a
" Trusting in Providence. the
 CO;VARDLY GUARDS. 231
turning back and and footmen, now crowded together in a solid
they n?ight a t least mass, which they lrept, in spite of the inequalities
11 b e i n g e s t e e m e d n of the road, and there was no inore straggling
road nearly all the till daylight ; then every bush in the distance
illocks, behind which was magnified into a horseman. A whil*lwindof
ed. Finally, i t was dust two miles on our left, behind some low
:ul be IChoda,"* the hills, was decided to be, without doubt, caused
3rmer station ir-1 the by a body of horse; the chaoushes galloped
their donkeys in the out to reconnoitre, and we halted for a few
? the main body one anxious minutes till they returned : they re-
!re fortunate enough ported it .to be " only the wind," and sooil
.rvice, and so escape after, seeiug Abbassabacl in the distance, the
: for those w h o hat1 hearts of all were re-assured, and they began to
see the ilmportance tall<of-Masballah ! what they would have done
~ c tof going n few had the enemy proved real ! W e had a pretty
said one upon nn good criterion of their valour in that of our
a long duck-gun, servant Meshed-e, whom we knew to be a n
v.e no w i f e w i t h me, arrant coward at heart, but who talked as if he
lnyself-dispose of would carbonado all the Toorlrmuns that dared
us C u r t i u s , h e was come ~ v i t h i ireach
~ of him, a i d who, what by
ruction. Con tinl.la1 the report (his own) of his having made a gal-
the a l a r m was give11 lant escape from the desert, and l-ris big words,
e been seen lookillg got himself to be thought a very " Roostum,"
:-horses, donkeys, and was looked to as a protection in case of
any alarm.
om ~Mcyotnellto Abha-
;uished by tllc llnnlcs of' The distance from Meyoinell to Abbassabad
is about forty-eight miles. ZIalf-way we passed
the ruii~eclcrtravicnsera of ~lecrgundusht,where
 there was no water : eight miles f r o m Abbassa-
bad was t h e still fine caravallsera of *lhauk,
~vherea little water oozed o u t f r o m a
plot of ground. It was ten o'cloclc when we
came to the end of our stage, after a ~~h of
fourteen llours, than which few exertions are
more wearying; for, though from sleep You
feel i~lclilledto drop froln your horse, you are
obliged to keep awake, for fear of brealcing
your leg against a load. I got a lrnock ollee o n e of
against the corner of a trunk, whicll made m e his11 el1
very cautious how I dozed again. noise a
At Abbassabad there are forty houses and a in and
slxing of good matel; within a high mud fort. imagine
A Inore ~vretclledlydesolate country than that marc11;
around it is not to be conceived ; not an at- that th
tempt is made to raise any thing vegetable, and
supplies are procured from Subzawar, eighty
n~ilesdistant. T l ~ einhabitants of this dreary
place are illohummudans, t h e converted de-
scendants of an Armenian colony establislled and c u
here perforce by the great Shah Abbas. They
have the credit of being on good terms both having
with the pilgrims and with the 'J#!oorkmuns ; and
this is probable, for the latter occasionally require t~ven
a supply of food when they are out, and it is Thi
not their interest to cut off the supplies of those fresh,
mlloln tlley live by catching. Seeing a clwwd of of the
 NOISY QUARTERS. 933
half-dressed Inen come galloping o~ztto meet us,
Prn u marshy
l~allooingand striving who should be foremost,
I conceived that some disaster had befallen
them, but was undeceived when the first of
them came up to us, and addressed t11e most
exertions are likely looking men with "Aga JAn, you 1' 1 buy
om sleep you your corn of me ; I 've fresh bread, curds, and
I
horse, yon are peaches, and my man keeps the two best rooms
Jr of breaking in the ' sera.' " W e were so fortunate as to get
a knock once one of these apartments, up stairs, under the
lhich made me high e~itrallceof the caravansera. The scene of
noise and quai~elling,as the inain body came
/ houses and a in and inade for the different cells, can only be
aigh inud fort. imagined by those who have seen Persians on a
/Itsy than that march ; but they were all so thoroughly tired,
d ; not an at- that they were soon glad to put up with any
;vegetable, and accommodation, and to lie down and sleep
za,war, eighty wherever there was shade. The thermometer
Lf this dreary at iloon was 87". I t was as much as we could
converted de- do to get up in the evening to eat some bread
ny established and curds, and then to drop to sleep again till
Abbas. They four o'clock the next morning, when, prayers
)d terms both having been said in the court, the gates of the
~rkmuns; and caravansera were unbarred, and we marched
onally require twenty-two miles to Muzzeenaun.
wt, and it is This marc11 was a pleasant one-the air was
)plies of those fresh, and the pilgrims, relieved from the fear
iilg a crowd of of the two most dreaded stages, unfmled their
 234 GOOD-HLTMOIJR RESTORED.

gay pennons, and nioved along w i t h liglltcr No

hearts. The Moojetel~eid's face wore a smile, ton
and, settling himself on his easy pad, he c01lde- bazl
scended to talk to those about him. The 'l'oorks Yo1
cut their jokes upon an Isphahaun daxxdy, tllc fep1
back of whose head was covered with long C L I ~ ~ ,
it1
and who, in countenance and general bearing, alzd
any thing but warlike, was quite l a d e l l wit11 031 r
arms and accoutrements. T h e chaoushes wo~llcl ha7
dash out ahead, mimicking a fight with cncll t l e~
other, halt a minute a t the top of s o m e r i s i ~ l g yea
grouild to see the country clear, and then, re- not
1
turning as they went, would call up011 tllc!
faithful to raise a shout for the blessed twr
hummud. Prefacing with some verses, of w h i c l ~ in a
all chaousl.les have a ready store, one tvoultI cs- COX
claim in a loud voice:-cc Bunz be cZzt~,?,blcr A1
goobe ~oohhsaz~r-e.&foh~~rr~mud sulawnnt." -- an(
"Upon the yose of the cheelr of N o h u r n m u t Z em
may the blessing of God inomentarily ~.est." thE
T o which the pilgrims would answer, c c ULll~h c01
hoonzmn szsllb Ata Nohummud-in 'uu azdZ-c 1710- otl
lit~mnaud."--c6 0 God, bless Mohumm u d, :ultl lig
the iswe of illohurnmud," and then t h e y wonl(l th 4
join in a shout. I f they did not cry loocl or n<
1
unanimously enough, the cl~aousl~es w o ~ z l dcs- Zin
claim angrily, Better than that!-swccter t l l i ~ r ~ tI 1
that! -dust on your Iieads,is this your sulnwila~ .J kg1
 ARAB WOMEN. 235
tb lighter Now one hearty shout that will ring to the
e a smile, tolr~bof the blessed Imaum Reza ; Fe~ishda
11e collclc- Zau shoomah sheraefc'uncl."-cc Angels j oil1 with
' h e Toorks YOU-sho~zt!!"-and the air was rent with a
landy, tlro fervent and inspiring cry. There is soinething
long curls, in a shout which makes the heart's blood boil,
11 bearing, and I felt so warmed and excited, that, for any
ucleil xvitll one but Mohummud-e Moostapha, I could
311~swolild have cheered with the loudest : as it was, I left;
w i t h c:icll the part to Meshed-e-Norouz, and fell to the
Dme risiug rear that my lukewarmness might not be
d.tl1e11, rc- noticed.
ul>oll i.llt.1 W e had a rich scene this morning between
lessed AXo- two old Arab women, who, whetl~erfrom the
;,of whiclr malformation of their mule's back, or what,
would cs- could not balance themselves in their kajavahs.
(Z?LII~~JI Ut' All the big stones in the road were piclted u p
kc~zunat.".-- and put into one dame's cradle, b ~ with ~ t no
ollu11111111~~ effect, and she sat perched up, tightly grasping
.rily rest ." the centre, till she became angry, and rated her
., " Ulldf coinpanion for being a heavy woman ; the
nuLa 17fo- other, I believe, .retorted on her the term of a
light one, and they had some very high words,
the in~zlethe while ambling along with them
nlost patiently. As they could not afford a
halt, all attempts to rectify the evil were vain ;
the heavy dame lay like a millstoile in her
kajavah, and, after a hearty cry, the two old
236 A FALSE ALARM.

bodies became friends again, and joined in vilj-

fyillg the men who had strapped t h e m on, till
the old lli'ijee, riding up, shook his gun a t
them, and authoritatively desired then1 to b e
silent.
Muzzeenaun, once a considerable town,
looked most desolate as we neared its ruins of
mud brick. Many of t h e houses were y e t
standing, but not a living creature m o v e d
among them. A village of fifty houses, wllich
now bears the name, is built at t h e back of
what was the town, and there we got e x c e l l e n t
ivater, and two or three sorts of f r u i t . W e
bad liardly got within the large c a r a v a ~ ~ s e rofa
this place, when there was a cry from t h e vil-
lage that t l ~ eToorkmuns were come: m o t h e r s
rail shrieking to the sinall fort with their chil-
dren ; tllc villagers hastened to drive in t h e i r
cattle, and the inen of our party been to
exaininc the state of their fire-arms. From
the roof of the caravansera we saw a f e w
horsenlen pricking about twenty camels with
all speed to the hills. A party of jungees*
volullteered for the rescue, made muc11 ftlss,
and received the benedictioi~sof their fi-iends,
without having individually, I believe, the
least intention of going within. smell of pow.
* Warriors.
LSE A L A R M . AN AMUSING FIGHT. 237'
is again, a n d j o i n e d in vili- der. I t was long before they were ready, and
had s t r a p p e d t h e m on, ti11 then, riding scarcely beyond the village, they
ng up, s h o o l r h i s gun at discovered, or affected to do so, that the riders
1tively d e s i r e d t h e m t o be were not Toorl;muns, and so returned to enjoy
credit for their gratuitous valour.
ice a c o n s i d e r a b l e town, From our small upper room, which flanked
as we n e a r e d its ruins of the asclled entrance, we looked down upon an
of t h e h o u s e s were yet amusing fight between a Persian and an Arab :
a l i v i n g c r e a t u r e moved each was in the middle of a crowd of his friends,
[]age of fifty houses, which bareheaded, and brandishing a dagger, and
e, is b u i l t at the back of swearing to make mince-ineat of his enemy,
md t h e r e tve got excellent but at the same time not really endeavouring
three s o r t s o f f r u i t . W e t o force his way to him. They were eventually
n the l a r g e c a r ~ v a n s e r aof brought together, and made to kiss each otller,
tre was a c r y from t h e vil- and immediately after, they seated themselves
nulls w e r e c o m e : mothers with the greatest harmoily to a basket of un-
slnall f o r t w i t h their chil. ripe plums. Muzzeenaun is one of the nine
lastened t o drive in their belooks of Subzawar : there are eight villages in
I of o u r party began to it, four of which. were in sight from the cara-
jf their f i r e - a r m s . From vansera.
,ravansera we saw a few
ibout t w e n t y camels with
11s. A p a r t y of jungees*
rescue, m a d e nluch fuss,
nediction s of t h e i r friends,
lividually, I believe, the
)ing w i t h i n ' s m e l l of pow-
" Warriors.
 ROAD TO MEYER.

CHAPTER XI.

Road to Meyer. -Village of Meyer.-A Persian IZcnut~'-~-

Fortifications of Subzawar. -Population of thc City- -
Military strictness.-Speech of a Tabreezee.- Persian
commendations.-An Indian's love of Country.-Town of
-
Nes1~aboore.-Land Assessments. The Rewass ~ > l i l ~ l t .
-Russian Deserters in Persia. -Russian igllorancc. -
Visit to the Bath. - Singular harangue. - Villngc of
-
Cheghir. Fictitious grief.-Approach to t11c EColy City.
--Arrival at Meshed.--Route from A s t r a b d - R o a d s .

JUNE ~1st.-This morning, after p r a y e r s , wc

rode twenty miles to Meyer. On either siclc of
the road we saw villages in the distance, a i d
therc was an improvement in the soil, w h i c h all
the way from Shahrood liad been of m i x e d S : L I ~ ~
and gravel. On our way we met a p a s t y of re-
turned pilgrims, with whom questioi~sa n d civi-
lities were exchanged. First the T o o r k l n ~ z l l s
were inquired about-were they o ~ ?t 'C Nollc
heard of, Aga JAn ; you are welcolne f r o m t l ~ c
shrine ; may your vows be accepted!"- cc In-
shallah ! your place was empty." -- << W h a t ' s
bread now in Meshed ?"-" Twelve fartllings
TO MEYER. VILLAGE OF MEYER. 239
-
mun." cC Alllul~doolilla~ !" cc Alhumdoolil-
1ah !"-" Iihoda nzeljybaun %fit."--" God is pro-
vident,?li Alhunldoolillal~!" were the ejacula-
tions of our party. Cc Safe journey to ye."-
" Thanks, thanks, God be with you ! forget us
not in your orisons." ,
TER XI.
Meyer is a neat village, through which
f Meyer.-A Persian Beauty.'- runs a stream of delicious water. The pil-
-
Ir. P o p l a t i o n of the City.- grims billeted themselves on the various
!ech of a Tabreezee.- Pcrsia~i houses ; we were so fortunate as to get admis-
Iinn's love of Countl.y.-Town of
~ssinents.-The Rewass plant,
sion into the garden of a widow who had two
Persia. -Russian ignorance. - daughters, the youngest of whom, a girl of
iigular I~nrangue.- Village of seventeen, married to a young inan who lived
f.-Approach to the Holy City. in the house, was so beautiful, that my com-
3ute from Asti.abnd.-Roads.
panion did not know whether to call her a
lorning, a f t e r prayers, we * Peri" or a "Houri." I t is so seldom. in Per-
!
fleyey. O n e i t h e r sideof I sian towns that you can catch a glimpse of a
tges i n t h e distance, and ' woman's features, that, unless favoured by some
nent in the soil, which all i: zephyl; you must be content to dream of
t had b e e n o f m i x e d sand L the charms that are veiled from you. In re-
iaywemetapartyofre- 1 mote villages the same strictness is not ob-
wlio~nquestions and civi- :F. served, and your eye may occasionally be blessed
F i r s t t h e Toorkmuns j with a sight of a beautiful face. The Syud, by
were they o u t ? a None i certain hints cleverly thrown out, managed to
IU are welcome from the : met himself invited in, to tell the fortunes of
a
ws be accepted!"-c' I n , the family. I made bold to follow him, and
vas empty.'' - CC What's
1

* The stay of many of the poorest pilgrims is regulated

"'-" Twqlve farthings a t. accordiilg t o the price of bread at Meshed.
240 A PERSIAN BEA'UTY.

while be examined their palms, or traced mysti-

cal lines on the floor, I enjoyed the pleasure of
unobservedly watching the expressions on the
countenances of these peasants, as they super-
stitiously believed the promises of every good
fortune and happiness which were so unspar-
ingly dealt out to them. The husband of the
youngest girl was a village poet, and was so
won b y the Syud's converse, that he declared
he would follow him to Meshed, to study under
him. The inother was one of those gossiping
good old bodies, whom one sees in n village at
honle ; she p r o d ~ ~ c ead plate of sweefmeats in
return for the Syud's many promises, but said
that her wishes only went the length of desir-
i13g wheaten instead of barley bread. My
saying so much about this family may appear
tedious, but even when in the constant habit of
seeing beautiful women, one surpassing the rest
makes us reineniber her long; and to meet with
a creature of so much grace and beauty, after
having been long debarred the sight of a wo-
man, was like meeting a spring in the desert.
Travelling from about nine that night till
seven the next morning, we rode thirty-five
miles t o Subza~var,which is a good-sized town,-
the capital of the province of the same name.
I11 this province tliere are nine beloolrs (Subza-
'Y.
or traced inysti- war, Muzzeenaun, Rau, Kurrao, Z u m m ~ m d ,
t h e pleasure of Tubbus, and three called Koo Rleesh) : they
3ressions on the Ila17e SO long been exposed to the inroads of
, a s t h e y super- the Toorkinuns, that i n m y villages have been
.s of e v e r y good deserted, and mucll naturally fine land remains
w e r e so unspnr- untilled ; but still a good deal of cultivation is
l ~ u s b a n dof t l ~ c carried on, especially of cotton, which is ex-
3et, a n d was so
ported in large quantities; and, should the
, h a t 11e declnrcd northern frontier be hereafter secured against
,t o s t u d y under the Toorltmuns, there is reason to believe that
t l i o s e gossiping the country would greatly recover itself.
; 511 a village at The town is fortified with a tolerably thick
f sweetineats in mud wall, in which are many bastions ; a nar-
~ m i s e s ,b u t said row rampart runs all round, and the top of the
Length of desir- wall is pierced with loopl~olesfor musqueteers.
&y bread. hly The place was in the hands of Prince Arghoon
n i l y inay nppcnr Meerza, son to Hassail Allee Rteerza, tlle Shah's
! o n s t a n t h a b i t of sixth son. This youth, already notorious for
r p a s s i n g the rest several independent acts, was away engaged
nd to nleet with in some sltirn~ishin the neighbo~irhood, His
n d bean ty, after troops were rated at five hundred regular l~orse
3 sight of :t TYO- and eight hundred foot, and the province, it was
i n the desert. said, would furnisli four tl~ousandeeljaulree ;*
t h a t rligllt till but, as the latter receive no pay, d i d as the
r o d e thirty-five aggressions of their lord are generally retaliated
p o d - s i z e d town, upon the lands they rent, they have 110 heart in
t h e same nainc. his quarrels. The Prince's artillery, we learned,
b e l o o k s (Sud~za- *A sort of militin.
VOL. I. It
242 1JOPULATION OF THE CITY.

consisted of thirty zooinboorul~s, o r came*

swivels, and fifty sh~~inkhals (large guns t h a t
are fired from rests). We beard also of a top-
thee blshee* and two cannon, gone t o t h e w a r s
with the Prince, but I presume that h i s g u l l s
were rnucll of the same calibre as those w h i c h
we saw at Bostam. The most accurate idea of
the state of Persian artillery may be g a t b e r e d
from a11 anecdote in the Sltetches of Persia, i n
~vhicllthe besieged commandant of a fort re-
quests his enemy to fire off his other b a l l , and
so put their minds at rest.
On inquiring . about the populatio~~ of S u b -
zawar, the Syud was gravely assured that, by a
census taken ten years before, the i n h a b i t a n t s
were rated at forty thousand souls. We h a d
but a cursory view of the city, but fl-om w h a t
I saw I was not inclined t o nllotv m u c h I n a r e
than a tenth of the number. There appeared t o
be much waste ground within the ~ v a l l s , a n d
did not see inany people ; however, tile bare
appearailce of the town was doubtless owillg
in a great measure to the absellce of t h e Prince
with his troops and suite. W e rode t ~ ~ r o L l g h
a llewly-coiistr~~ted bazaar of arched brick,
and the prices of provisions were moderate.
W e got no house-room at Subzawar, but
* Commnndnnt of artillery.
LTION OF TEJE CITY. kIILITAT1Y STRICTNESS. 249
irky s o o l b o o r u l ~ s , 0' eaiuel wellt outside the city, and made a covering for
y sllumlcl~nls(large guns ourselves, by laying one end of a carpet on a
; mre heard also of a t o p low inud wall, and supportii~gtlie other with
. two CZWIOII, g o n e to the wars OIIP guns. The therinometer rose to X16"n
, bllt I p r e s u m e that his guns the sun; the heat of our tent could not have
he same RS those which been Inany degrees lower, and so rnuc11 dust
. T h e ~l~ost accurate idea of was blown illto our beards, that we looked as
sin11 artillery may be gatbered though we had been powdered. "Light to
: in the S k e t c h e s of Persia, in yonr eyes," said an old pilgrim, when we ac-
:cd c o l n ~ n n n d a l l tof a fort re- ceded to his request that he might just; rest his
t o fire off his otl~erball, and head in the shade of our carpet ; light to your
66

1s a t rest. eyes, and increase to your wealth!" and putting,

bout the p o p u l a t i o n of Sab- as he had said, just his head under cover, he
\lrns gravely assured that, by a left the rest of his body in a roasting sun, and
ycnrs before, t h e inhabitants slept composedly for some hours.
rty t h o u s a n d souls. W e had The Slmhzadeh being away, ail affectation of
!.cv of tlie city, b u t f r o m ~vllat great military strictiless was observed by those
iilcliiled to allow inucll mo~e left in charge. As soon as the sun llad set, the
~c number. T h e r e appeared to city gates were closed, and some nnlucky pil-
grounci ~vithint h e walls, and grims of our party, who were inside a t the
lt~ilypeople ;however, the bare time, were not let out till they bad paid their
he town was doubtless owjilg Tvay. TVe loaded at midnight, and marched
Ire t o t h e absence of the Prince twenty miles, to the very large but ruined cara-
aild suite. TVe rode throagli vansera of Zaffron, close to which was a d u d
lcted bazaar of arched brick, fort containing a dozen houses : the illl~abitants
F provisions w e r e moderate. sold us grain and flour, and we got good water
house-room at Subzawar, but from a small canaut. A t stinset, as we were
saddling, to continue our journey, a horselnan
R 2
244 SPEECI-I OF A TABREEZEE.

arrived froin Subzawar: his steed was jaded,

and, wislling to detain the kafilah till the mor-
row, he told of eighty Toorklnun horsemen least v
who had chappaoed a village hard by, and bower
who would assuredly set on us in the darlr. tlie v:
Thong11 his lie was palpable, he succeeded in to t h e
alarming the most nervous of our party, and if 1)all !
the B'loojetelxeid had not had his boots 011, I ball !
really believe that our march would have been Iiz~mac
deferred. "Ant
it w ~ we , had much squabbling, and this, .
there was no appearance of its ending, until was T
an old Tabreezee took the question up: " The T11
man says,)' reasoned he, cc that the Toorlr- Icy, s
inuns have chappaoed a village; then; i t is of tlll
lilrely that they have filled their bellies and been
gone to the desert ; and if they be still near this,
the road, islease God, won't we burn the fathers rally
of eight times eighty such dogs ? If the Ispha- homt
liaunees won't, tlie men of Tabreez will." Ap- ring
plause followed this sally, the beasts were lade11 llnun
without more ado, and we rode a fatiguing loqu;
march of forty-five miles, to Neshaboore, with- palat
out seeing any thing like an enemy. W e of a1
made two marches in one, to avoid the braclrisl~ rive1
water of the intermediate stage : part of the seen
road was bad, between hills and weedy jungle. was
W h e n day broke, we were in tbe valley of dnnc
2 2 EZ RE.
PERSIAN COMMENDATIONS. 845
was jaded, Neshaboore a plain eighteen miles in breadth,
:sLfilah
till tlle mor- q ~ l i t ecovered with cultivation and villages, the
least with its little curtains and bastioils enz-
bowered in green trees. This is Persia ! was
us in the dark. the vain exclaination of those who were alive
, h e succeeded in t o the beauty of the scene ; this is Persia ! bah !
f o u r party, a n d if ball ! what grass, what grain, what water ! bah !
d h i s boots 011, I ball ! cc Ugger Feaclose bzaa roo-e azafnsen ust,
w o u l d h a v e been hunzeen z~st,'80 hzmeen ust, 'vo 1~ztmeenzcst!"
"And if there be an EIysiuill on earth, it is
s q u a b b l i n g , and this, it is this ! Y e t all ! lord of my soul, what
its ending, uiltil was Neshaboore !"
ues tion up : " The The commendations bestowed upon this vsl-

.]age ; tlien, it is of their respective places, and, after rnuch had

their bellies and
t h e y be still near
rally. came to the conclusion that their own
gs ? If t h e Ispha- holnes were the best. There was a little spar-
b r e e z will." A.p- ring between some Shira~zzeesand t l ~ eIspha-
beasts w e r e lade11 haunee, for the latter wis disposed to be very
rode a fatiguing loquacious in praise of llis native city, its
palaces and colleges, its astrologers and inen
of art ; its bread, fruit, baths, and the eternal
ivoid the brackisll river Zei~lderwood; while the inen of the soutli
age : part of the seemed to think all praise i;hrown away which
md weedy jungle. was not applied to Shirauz ; and when the
in tlie valley of dandy quoted the. far-know n saying, Ispha-
246 AN INDIAN'S LOVE OF COUNTRY.

haun Nisf Jehaun (Isphahaun is half the

world), they answered him with the following
couplet.
Usphahaun jennut ust poor neamut,
Usphahnunee dur 0 0 ne mebiud I
is Paradise 1 f ~ ~ofl ldelights;
Ispl~al~aun
But Paradise not the place for an I s p l ~ a h a n n e eI

An Indian who should venture in s u c h an

assembly to put in a word in praise of his
country would be scouted b y all parties. In-
dia ! where the sun is so hot that it dries LIP
0 U NTILY. TOWN OF NESBABOORE.

,*I is half t;l~" ate rice, &c.-to d l which the Shirauzee coolly
CI tile f o l l ~ \ ~ i p h f answered, d c A i A g a ! don't distress yourself
with much tallting; what you have been
ut, pleased to say is true, but truth is not always
tl.ut11. H i n d o s t ~ iis
~ ' a very good place for
l i h ' 1 l t ~; you, and has, no doubt, many fine things ;
I ; ~ s ~ , l i n l ~!
u ~ ~ l e ~ but I-Iindostan is not Persia, and you ltnow the
1-e in s11~t2
1 :ilk
1 pi-"isc of 21js Shultr uz Misr, 'o Saadi LIZ Shi~-aue.
Sugar-candy comes from Egypt ;
rill p a r t i e s - 'ftl*
Sancli * from Shirauz.
;flat it c l r i c s ~ 1 1 1
s evident by t l i c
~g possess* c : ~ i 1))' . not liandsome, is large ; it appeared to be tole-
v l ~ e ~ -ifc , ax I nrn i.1 rably well inhabited, and in a flourishing
fa21 i n t o r t f i t condition : the bazaars were well filled, and
I once 1tt.;srd provisions were cheap. There were. said to be
110, l l n v i ~ ~cozx,lc
g ten or eleven hundred dwelling-houses in the
< s ntiliuctlly siglrtl- city: I wallted through lmnily of its quarters,
and was induced to believe tlie statement, and
1 e ! ~ i l : t ~ l to rate the population at about eight thousand

The neglected, but still fine province of

*llcrcin I-Iir 1c l o s - Neshaboore, is divided into twelve belooks,
1 1 your f~tfil~c~z-s (Neshaboore, D~lrb-e-Cauzee, illauzo~~l,Re-
1 11cg tto s t r r t - i a , v11 nd, Tegllankoo, Baur-e-madan, Di~rroocl,
Ishkabad, 13eloolc-e-Noh, and three others). In
eacli belook there are at least oile hundred
* The celebrated Pcl.sinn poet.
248 LAND .kSSESS&lENTS.

kullahs, or w;dled villages ; not less ten,

d~plo
nor nlore tllnll a 1,undred houses ill each-
~11tt1ri
;
There are twelve ever-running streams from the t s1
liills, and it was said eight of the twelve thou- x"~ty r
sand canauts of former days were still remain-
l x l c l l tic
i n g ; but tllen we Irere told that there was so
"1'11 ou1
little water ill tllese, that they were not equal RCV(
to ;L fourth as many of the ordinary fulness.
is n lo
When I-Iassan Allee Meerza was goverllor of
Persian IChorassaun, 60,000 Irkk tomauns
x3 crsia
ablc
(£39,000) were paid him annually from the s n r l~i l
province of Neshaboore : the turquoise mines the 111
were rented for 1000 toinauns, and the rock- the CI
atlt mines* for 300. I n addition t o the cash
actual
assessn~ent,the Prince took 'yearly from the
~ I - U V ~
111*ovincetell thousaiid lrhurwars of grain, which
drcd 1
at the crown rate of colnposition (of two to-
5 - agi
~ n a u l per
~ s maz~nd)gives a, further sum of 20,000
1-idler
tomauns.
tilled
Now from this a guess may be made a t the
rtlld !
yearly harvest. The Shah levies from a tenth
ox1ly
to a fifth upon the produce of his country,
of t l 1 c
according to the fertility of the soil in dif-
IV
ferent countries, or to the degree of favour
taste
that he is inclined to show the people, it being callei
the endeavour of every govesilor to return as 11 eigf
:.The salt of these inines is vcry fine, and is largely lieve,
exported.
is coc
 'S . TIIE REWASS PLANT.

t less than t e ~ , deplorable an account as possible of the agri-

louses in each. cultural state. of his district. Knowing tbat
treams froin the the Shah received ten thousand lchyrwars, we
IF
he twelve thoti- may make a calculation between the above-
:re still rein air^ mentioned extreme rates, and suppose that the
at there was so amount was, say a seventh of the gross produce,
or seventy thousand l~hurwars. This, 1 imagine,
is a low estimate, for the Shah's authority over
Persian I~hortlssaunhas hardly been such as to
Irbk t o m a u ~ ~ s enable him to exact tlae highest rates, andHus-
san Allee Meerza took many regular troops f ~ o m
t l ~ eprovince, in which case it is usual to assess
i,and t h e rock- the country lightly. TVe were told that the
ion to t h e cash actual quantity of grain annually raised in the

,ion (of two to- imagine that the soil of Neshaboore was lni~ch
zr sum of 20,000 richer than i t appeared to be: it is generally
tilled for one year and left fallow for two,
be made at t h e and some parts of the district are cultivated
.es from a tenth oilly every fourth year. T h e average return
of the seed sown.is ten-fold.
W e arrived at Neshaboore just too late to
egree of favo11~ taste in its freshness the sweet syrup of a plant
called rewnss, whicl~grows to perfection on tlie
lor to returil a s neighbouring llills. This plant grows, I be-
lieve, in all parts of Persia where the climate
is cool, blrt no where so well as at Neshaboore.
250 ~ ~ U S S I AL)Es~ETERS
N I N PERSIA.

I t thrives only on hills ; those 011 which it is has

found near Neshaboore are of a gravelly red Wa;
soil. We were unable to procilre any seed of Par
the rewa& but i t should be obtained by botn- guj
nists from Persia, as the plant appears to con- at I
tain a great quantity of saccharine matter, and the
to grow wl~crclittlc else would. thc
W e halted the day of our arrival, and t h e few
25th also, for we were all completely tirecl, a n d at I
had I been, what lnost of the party tl~cpr~gllt 1
me, a Mohummudan pilgrim, I should l ~ a v e sial
felt inclined to agree in opinion with a man relj
who said with a groan, as he threw himself bcr
down to rest in his boots, cc If there be a road to <

to Paradise, this is it." sell

W e lodged outside the town, in a 1.uinec1 at 1
caravansera, which, strange t o say, a renegado a nl
Russian had devoted himself to rebuild, as a gi7
marlr of his sincerity in his new faith. The lle2
townspeople made much of him, and fur- thc
nished him with the means of live2ihoocl. wk
W e were told that within the last two years, Tk
several converted Russians had come this road, o f
on their way to the shrine at Meshed : per-
haps some of them were ol.iginallp b l o l ~ u ~ n -
t 1- 1%
mudans, t h o ~ ~ gRussian
h subjects. I believe 1: p1-i:
may say that there are seven or eight tholzsnlld sen
 ..-.,,w* ~"-".- ... ~ . ~
---. .

RUSSIAN IGNORANCE.

ha$ about three thousand in his service when I

was at Tabreez ; but these, though for t h e most
part i~ominalA/Iooselmauas, were not distin-
guished by a particular show of any religion ;
s t o con- at least they did not think themselves debarred
the privilege of stopping folk's passage from
their I~ousesby lying drunk at the doors, and
few Mohumniudans could .have felt satisfaction
a t calling such bru tes-brothers.
It is easily to be conceived, that a low Rus-
sian, once removed from tlle pomp of the Greek
religion, by the superstitions of which he has
been kept ill ignorant submission, will be proud
to adopt a creed which bids him consider hiin-
self so very much above other men, and which
at the same time is inore suited to his capacity ;
and I think that nothing is so calculated to

. t h e degraded state of religious kiiowledge in

which it is thought politic to keep t h e people.*
T h e Muscovites profess, and doubtless inany

* A missionsry, and fi-om such a person you expect

trut.11, told m e that many thoosand copies of t h e Bible were
printed for distribution in Russia, b u t that, i t being repre-
sented to t h e Emperor t h a t to impart too much lrnowledge
t o the people would b e to endanger the government, the
books were 1101; sent forth.
 252 V I S ~ TTO THE BATII.

be a nation specially ordained for tlle propaga-

tion of the Christiall religion, and (though not
exactly perhaps as they in their vanity think)
who shall sap that they are not? W e have
seen the two greatest Mohummudan nations
fall before their suddenly-raised power, and
though they extend a creed which is only in
principle better than that which they weaken,
their minds must be brought to a sense of the
errors which they have engrafted upon the
pure faith : a Luther will arise at the crisis,
"'
and their idolatries will cease at once, as ours
I
/

did. This, if it be a vain theory, is at least a

pleasing one.
Meshed-e-Norouz and I sauntered about the
town nearly the whole afternoon, and the11
tunled into a bath, where I was still sorry
to see a dozen Inen lying on their backs like
corpses, with their beards in paste : an uillucky
slip that I made on coming out of the hot
water, threw me into the midst of them, and
they evidently thought me eitller drunlc or
mad. I llurried out, leaving Meshed-e-Norouz
to make my apology, and dressed so hastily,
that I unwittingly carried off one of the bath
cloths. I sent Meshed back with this, but
he went unwillingly, declaring that the owller
of the bath would think hilvi eitller a fcl0l or a
 STNGULAR EIATLANGUE.

thief: " J u s t keep it," he said, offer up

a good wish for the man, that his prosperity
may increase."
It is usual for the chaoushes, when there is
111 nations a halt ill the evening, to address an extempo-
raneous speech to the pilgrims, after which the
. hour and order of the next day's march are
mentioned. The sr~bstanceof this evening's
mse of t h e harangue was curious. A chaoush, ,standing in
the middle of the square, lifted up his voice
and prayed for the blessing of God upon Mo-
:e, as ours hummud, and recited some verses in honour of
the prophet, to which the pilgrims shouted
short senteilces in answer. The effect of their

and then
ing exactly when to chime in, the sounds rose
upon each other till they were blended in a
fill1 chorus. Then t l ~ ecl~aousl~
prayed for t h e
f the liot downfall of the Russian power, and the exalt-
ation of all Mohuminadan potentates ; next, he
dl-unfc 01- desired the prayers of the pilgrims for a sick
e-Noroux person in his house, and lastly lie begged them ,
to pray for the recovery of his horse, which had
fallen lame.
26th. --Twenty iniles to Durrood, a village
near Elborz mountains, beautifully situated
in tile inidst of gardens of all fruits, through
 254 VIJ,I,AC;.E C)P CIIEG [IIlt.

which rail abundance of spal.kling water. six- before

teen lniles on the road, we halted a t t h village
~ meshe
of ITnddumgnu, for the purpose of ziarut, and for t l 1 c
passed LIPan avenLie of magnificent cedar trees, that 1:
illto a fine garden, through which flowed a depart
stream of clear water, in the centre of which for tll,
was a neat little mosqlxe, containing a stone The 23

with the imprint of the Imaum Reza's foot the di,

upon it. This mas with much vene- of gri
ration by, I believe, everybody but the Syud, wlxich
hleshed, and myself. W e paid our devo- It is i
tions more sensibly to a basket of delicious arid, a
plums. The majority of our fellow-travellers sha x - e
thongl~tme a Mohuinlnudan pilgrim lilre them-
selves : the few T.V~IOknew m e did not appear
to care about nly journeying with them, though
in case of Inisfortune they would probably have
regarded me as a Jonas.
27th.-Twenty miles to Cheghir, as beautiful 0 x 3 tll
a village as the last. W e picketed our horses for tl
on the bank of a clear brook, and rested under
a spreading tree, through which the sun hardly
shone from its rise until evening. Quitting
Durrood, we proceeded u p a stony and hilly sail3t,
patl~,eight miles t o the foot of the inountaius, the 1
~vhichwe ascended by a cotul so steep that few strilci~
had the cruelty to l-ide their horses up it, and
many were the groans and Uah Imaum Rezas !
 FICTITIOUS GRIEF.

before we gained the top. Then all halted, for

@ Meshed was in sight, and began to build llouses
for the other world with the loose black stones
that lay about ; some for fathers and inothers
departed, others for friends left behind, and all
for their own especial accommodation hereafter.
The sight of the Holy City, dim as it was in
the distance, conjured up in some expressions.
of grief that I tried to think fictitious, but
which I was forced to believe not entirely so.
It is good to weep for the woes of any martyr,
and, as the Imaum Reza was not without his
share of the sorrows of this world, tlie most
zealous of his admirers contrived, by exercising
their imaginations, to think of his griefs and

One young Syud, who had ingratiated hiin-

self with all our party by his cheerfulness
on the road, and whom we had remarked
for the alacrity with whicli l ~ eascended the
pass, totally altered his demeanour when 11e
reached the summit. After a period spent in
passionate exclamations and addresses to the
saint, lle slowly desceilded the steep side of
the mountain, frequently lying down and
striking his head against the ground, and sob-
bing as if his heart was breaking ; all for recol-
lection of the indignities that had been heaped
256 APPROACI-I TO TIIE IIrllLY CITY.

on the blessed Irnaum, on Ixossein, and 012 his

noble sons. I t was not genuine grief, but a
sort of fit he had worked himself into, - a
spiritual penance instead of a hair shirt, and a
duty t l ~ n the owed the saints ; for his feelings
took another turn whcn he got to the foot of
the pass, and we saw him stailding by the way-
side, with a cloth spread before him, to receive
the contributions of his fellow-travellers.
Early on the morning of the 28t11, we rode
eighteen miles to t l ~ ecity of Meshed. The
first half of the way took 11s by hills, the clells
of which are gardens waterecl by rills from the
mountains. Hence the city is supplied with
the choicest f r ~ ~ iof
t s all kinds, which arc grown
in such quantities, that they are within the
means of the poorest. Tlie rich inhabitants of
Meshed have country houses in the little villages
which are built among the gardens, ancl in
spring time parties collie out to recite poetry
and eat fruit.
Pour iniles from the city there was a halt
near a small lnin&r, and, all dismounting, the
chief pricst said praycrs before a party, while
otlicrs praycd for tl~ctnselves apart. The
scene was a vcry iml~rcssivc one, and i t was
renilcrcd inorc so to mc, by tllc appearance of a
pilgrim fro111 'l':~l)rocx, wllo~n X 11ad I e i s ~ ~ rtoe
 ARRIVAL AT MESIIED.
liis observe. This poor mail hzid fallell very sick
t a 011 the road, end i t was proposed to leave him
- :1 behind, but he expressed so much'anxiety to
(1 :L reach the holy city, that his friends brought
llgs him on, and they were now affectionately con-
: of gatulating him, 'and pointing to the golden
'ay- cupola of the shrine, on which the morning sun
2ivc was brealcing. I callilot forget the smile that
lighted the death-like co~ui~tenance of this
man, as, supported by his friends, he strained his
eyes to look: upon the place which he esteemed
so holy : he was too weak to do more than utter
thc ejaculations of thanksgiving, and we afterwards
vitli learned that he died that very evening. " Ichoda
Rnllmut konud !" 6c God rest his soul !"
T'Vheu prayers had been said, the cl~aoushes
spread cloths on the road side, and fixing each
agea$ his banner at his post, chanted sentences best
1 irt adapted to soften the hearts of the pilgrims,
ctry who threw down donations according to their
ability. W e then mounted and moved on in
order: the Mo0,jetelieid's wife showed her ho-
nour for thk, saint, by descending from her
mule, and wallcing on foot abead of the horse-
men; the chaouslies unfurled their banners,
'

and sang their loudest;, and were answered by

sl~outsas fervent as their hearts could bave
desired ; ancl thus we approached the holy city.
- .-. n.;.-, , ..,..w,: .,-, ,... .-z7m,,F, ...

258 ROUTE FROM ASTlthBAD -

made acqunin tance with a resident of tlle city,

who, inviting us to rent 1% llousq lecl us to a
dirty little room with a sinall terrace acljoining,
on which we might sleep, he said. The first
night disproved his words ; it was a tl~orough-
ftme for all the cats in Meshed, and the abode
of innumerable smaller, b u t not less active,

A permanent, residence in sucll a place was

not to be thought of; the Syud therefore inade
search for another house, and fouiitl one in a
retired situation, co~lsistingof two rooms, a
terrace, and a hrge court-yard, with stabling,
which we rented for the rno~ltl~ly sum of one
tomaun.*
I-aving described our route from Astrabad,
I would here ofler a few rernarlrs upon the
country between that place and Meshed, From
Shahrood to ('the lloly city," by the road ~v11ich
we followed, we iliade tlie distance, at a rough
calculation of four miles ari hour for horses'

sornethii~g less than Fraser docs. Tllc soil,

* Thirtccn shillil~g~,
 which from Shahrood to near Meyer is chiefly
of mixed sand and gravel, gradually k-etters
between the latter place and Subzawar, and
'

thence 011' to Nesliaboore it still improves.

,a 11s to a eight miles through a plain, well-watered, and

not ill-cultivated country, to the foot ,of the
T l ~ first
e Elborz mountains, beyond which it has been
t11 o r o u g h - described in the journal.
the abode Another, and in some respects a better road,
s s active, goes off from Si~ahrood,nearer t o the mountains,
vin" the town of Jau-jerm. Beyond the latter
place it branches, and you may either, as is
fore made most frequently done, come down to Subzawar,
one in n
1-ooms, a and so round t o Meshed. There are two long
marches, one before and the other beyond Jau-
jerim, but water is in plenty at the .stages, and
the c,untry which borders the road is'better
Ast r a b a d , peopled and cultivated' than that througl:
upon the which the lower route goes. The king's troops
!dm F r o m usually take this road, and Futteh Allee Shall
>adtvhicll
; a rough
31: ~ O F S ( ? S '
* The road to Kaboushan, as stated in a preceding
note about the Syud's jouimey, goes tllrougl~ a highly-
&TI miles ; cultivated country.: water is in plenty, the roads are
T I soil,
difficultcotul than that of D~~rrood.
s2
260 ROADS.

W h a t was remarl<ed about the district of

Subzawar may bc repeated with regard to this
country generally; namely, that if the incur-
sions of the Tool.kmuns were prevented, its
condition would be very much altered for the
better, and conseque11tl~the difficulties of the
roads through it would be greatly lessened.
From Astrabad, the road eastward to Ale-
shed, by the lands of the Viinoots, GGlclans, and
Hoords, is one whicl~offers plenty of water and
forage, and, for troops, supplies of grain nncl
cattle for slaughter could certainly bc pro-
cured. I t is a road now seldom travelled, but
it is represented as by no means a difficult ollc,
and it has the advantage of avoiding the stccl~
passes of the Elbo~z.
Imyst
city,
chief
disal
bllt
c e u ti
of gc
o f tl
tiful
intel
FT
It is
~vitP
 . * s ' .
,
v y
. I ~
T"47-1.1^------ -...-* .-?,
~ " , ,,. .

!
I

,&IESIIEU TIIE HOLY. 261

C I i A P T E R XII.

Mcshed the Holy.-Appearance of the City.-The Sanc-

tuary.-Fixed Pupulaliona- The Rival l3rothers. -Jea-
lousy of the Moo1llis.-Festival of the Mol1urrum.-The
Martyr, I-1ossein.-The Prince.

R~ESEIED tlle Holy has been so minutely arid

so well described by Fraser, that I l n a y content
myself with saying, tliat it is a very large walled
city, of irregular shape, the l~ousesof which are
chiefly built of inud brick. There is much t o
clisappoint a traveller in its general appearance,
but still it is a city desirable t o see, for i n the
centre of it is a cluster of magnificent buildings
of gold and coloured tile, sacred to the memory
of the Pmaum Reza ; and there are sollie beau-
tiful colleges, and fine caravanseras, which, if i t
intelvests a innn to read about, l ~ einay take
'
Fraser for his gnicle, and walk through them.
It is a city full of.interest, for there you'meet
 APPEARANCE OF THE CITY-
'
the eastern world, to the number of onellnndred
tllollsand yearly ; and, if the romnllee of l'ersian
history has charins for you, where will YolL filld
a city which has been inore t h e scene of its
stratagems and bloody tragedies ?
Thougll 1 shall not enter into millute de-
scription of the town, I mast, in order to rellder
after-accounts intelligible, sketch its gcllerfil -1,
pearance. A very brood boulevard, 011 ritlicr
side of which are the principal s h o ~ ~runs
s , fi.0111
the east to the west wall, interrupted ollly by
the sahn, or great square of t h e sacred build-
ings, into which you pass froin eit;her side,
under a very EiigEl arched gate of csquisite
architecture, faced with blue clia~klcllcd tile.
The square itself deserves especial riotiec ; it is
a parallelogram of good propostio~ls,cl~closeci
by a double story of arched cloisters, frorited
with mosaic work, and paved witli tlie grave-
stones of such rnen as were rich enough to
pay for the indulgence. I n tllc centre vf t l ~ c
long sides of the square are two deep-arclied
porclles, of the same height nncl prol~ortiorlsas
the gates : one, of enamelled tilc-~vorl~, leads
into a fine mosque ; the opposite olio, covered
with broad copper tiles Iieavily gilt, fronts
high gilded minaret, m d t h e gld(~cl1clolllc
under which the I m a ~ u nsleeps. tlrc! colltrc
 TI-Il3 SANCTUARY.

of tlie square is a small octagon temple, within

which stands a white marble block of great
size, hollowed to contain water, and through
the square, and round this, Shall Abbass made a

at hand for their ablutions. A space of some

hundred yards round the shrine is railed off for
a sanctuary : within this are several houses and
shops, and hither even a murderer may flee,
and be in safety so long as lie remains. Some
have dwelt here for years, whose lives wo~lld
have been forfeited had they p u t foot without

W h e n Hussan Allee Meerza was overnol*,

a Inan who had deeply offended him took re-
fuge in the sanctuary, and lived within it for
.many days ; when the Prince, in a spirit of
treachery very unworthy of bis name, sent
some artful men to persuade the offender that
his fault had been overlooked, and to invite
him to ~ e t u r nto his friends. Tlie poor min,
suffered liimself to be deceived, and, venturing
3ns as out, was seized and cnlelly put t o death, by
having a stake driven through his. back. This
is a Persian mode of torture, which sometimes
dreadfully prolongs a victim's sufferings : the
Syud, when he was formerly in Meshed, saw
'four inen nailed to the ground in this manner,
264 PIXED POPULATION.

who had been convicted of kidnapping merl for

the purpose of selling them to the Toorkmulls ;
on the third day, he told me, there werc signs
of life in their bodies.
The fixed population of the city )nay ainou1lt
to forty-five thousand souls," and the grcittcr
number of these are rogues, who only t ; l l i c
thought how to make the most of the pilgrims
who visit the shrine. Froin tile high priest
the seller of bread, all have the same end ; ;ll(l,
not content, wit11 the strangersymoney, those i l l
office about the saint appropriate to t h e m s c l ~ c s
the very dues for keeping his temple in rcy):lilS.
Thus, some of the bliildings were sul-2lerctl to
remain in a dilapidated state, and the stolk~?
canal leading up the maill streel; into t l ~ egreat
square, was dry, because the in6turullc-1- 11:trl
turned the water on his own melon-groi.~ilcls.

* I was a t first lrlucll deccivecl ahout tllc iisctl llrqn~liiti~rti

of Meshed, finding .it ctiflicult t o separatc the rcsidcllt.~fi.o111
visiters. Af'ter sollle time, I came to the conclusio~i tl~;lt
fifty tl~ousnllrlsouls was a Fair calculation ; 1)ut I was :it-st~retl
by sonlc of tlle best informed inl~id~itallts of botll cititjs t l ~ t ~ t
the fixcd popalation of Rlcslled was, if ally tiling, l e s s tllir~i
that of I-Icrnut, and I all] inclinctl to bo guitlctl 1)s tllcir
opinions 1-ntl1cl. t l ~ n nmy own, bccausc, tl~ougllt l ~ ct r i t y xvatlr;
of Meshcd cmbr:lcc :I grcnt spacc, tllcro art: w i ~ l l i r ~ . l l c l ~ \
many g:lrdcns, lnrgc cctnetcrios, and nlucli waste groi~rld.
+ IIcnd w:irdcn.
 THE RIVAL BROTI-IERS.
Between knaves and fools, I suppose a man
oorkinuus ; might gain as much knowledge of mankind in

of the place were high priests, brothers, who,

both desiring popularity, were on any thing but
affectionate terms with each other. The elder
owned half the caravanseras in the city, and
mas a man of great wealth, proud and bigoted.
The other, though far poorer, was more gene-
rally liked, on account of the greater amiability
then~selvc~ of his disposition; each had his party, and it
was a great struggle between then1 who should
suflerecl to get most persons to pray behind thein in the
tlie stc.,rle court of the temple : you might always Ieari~
the strength of the respective forces half an
hour after prayer time. The infli~enceof the
elder brother was greater than that of the
I goveinor: his eldest son had long been in the
:cci populal i l l s r habit of coining false money, and passing it in
reside~ltsf i - t ,z a
~ n c l u s i ot1a::t.
~~
spite of the Vuzeer, who indeed could not, with
I was assilt-t-41 any grace, prohibit him, seeing that he himself
0th cities t11;lt had made a large sum a few years before, by
ling, ICSS L I I : I I L coining many thousand bad Ixeraut reals, and
.iciecI by tI1t:i r circulatirig them over IChorassaun.
the city ~ v : i l ls
On entering the city, you are struck with the
: w i t l ~ i r i~l ~ t : ~ t ~

;tc grouatf.
nuiliber of Syuds in their green turbails and
sashes, lnying wait for novices to instruct thcm
in the forms of their vows. Mixing with the free
pilgrims, who throng the streets, are to be seen O ntl
rnoollAs of all degrees - l ~ u n g r y wolves in luck
sheep's clothing, who cover a great many pec- w
cadilloes (to call them by no worse a name) dux-ir
with an assumption of sanctity, and who, the n
though all bitterly jealous of each other, have wcllt
certain common causes in which they unite. part ,
One w o ~ ~ lsuppose
d that a inooll$ desirous to pl
of getting his bread in Meshed, need only go lnucl
and take up his abode there; b u t not so, he of t h
~vouldbe attacked by the whole band of set- over
tlers, and I have known instances of inen who crow(
have been fairly bullied out of the city. 340011iI L perfo
is a term which, like that of " wise y e n of tlie rouz
East," has lost its meaning. With a snqatter-
ing of Itnowledge ailif a few friends, a mail give
may get bound over l ~ i scap the turban which 011 e,
marks him a doctor, and privileges him to write . T-4-I
himself an A.S.S.; and if be add to this the the :!
cloak of sanctified manners, and can talk either that
a great deal or very little, he may make his in th
way as well as liis betters. Thc most fort~ulate
of the Meshed moo11As keep fat upon their iilg
pickings from the visiters to the sllline, direct- cf o t b
ing their religious offices, and dunling in astro-
logy and divination ; tlic poorcr ones cast
 FESTIVAL OF TIIIS MOI-IU~RUIVI.

free in the college cloisters, and serve and fawn

to be seen on their betters till they themselves have the
volves in luck to rise above the crowd.
W e saw Meshed to advantage, as we arrived
during the first days of the religious festival of
the 1C1ohusrum. The evening of our arrival I
went to the sahn to see the representation of

much less in the sahn itself, to defile the graves

of the holy men who rest there, by walltiilg
~d of set-. over them; but f judged rightly, that the
inen who crowd would be too inuch taken up wi'th the
T. JXoolld performance to notice me, and Meshed-e-No-
nen of the rouz (though he confessed that a Jew had beell
smatter- stoned to death for the intrusion) proi~~ised to
give an answer to anybody who might require
3an which
The pe~formance this evening represented
) this the the setting out of Hosseill and his family on
:alk either that unfortunate journey to Icoofa which ended
lnalte his in their murder ; and the cl~aracterswere acted
fortunate by rnen and boys in.proper dresses, who, stand-
ing upon a raised platform covered with black
cloth, read their parts from slips of paper. The
stage was i n front of the golden porch, under
ones cast *which, at small arched windows, sat the Prince
and a few fi~vouredothers. The crowd forrned
'268 T I ~ E~ ! T A I ~ Y R ,
EIOSSEIN.

a dense semicircle about the platform, the men tlleir sta

separate from the women, who, closely veiled, a n d the
were made to seat theinselves on the left, and seking o
the feroshes were not sparing of their blows to c o u r t of
those of either sex who pressed forward. The saw the
performers on these occasions are men selected b e was
for their powers of elocution, and the parts are t h e ~lac
written by the cleverest docto~~s;it is not, of all sis
therefore, to be wondered at, that a peoplc so. t h e y use
dive to the beauties of language as the Persians inost hu
are should readily receive the impressions in- WTe afte
tended to b e conveyed in descriptioils of the and retu
fortitude or tenderness, the noble deeds or the n i g h t w:
sorrows, of tlie martyrs of Islam. of OUP h
Thc crowd came prepared to be moved, and o f tlie
they werc so ; at tlie affecting passages the me11 snhn, tt
beat their breasts, and exclaimed or wept, and CC HOS
the wornell writhed their bodies, and sent up a
low moan froin under their veils. T h e wholc
circumstai~cesof Hossein's setting out were re-
presented ; some splendidly cnparisoncd camels,
horses, and mules being introduced, upon whicll,
after some affecting prognosticntions, the 111~~'-
tyr and his family mounled and rodc round the
platform. On ordinary occasioils anim~ilsarc
escluded from tlic sanctuary, but ill sucll ill-
stances, i t is to be presumeci, tllc part tllcy 1 ~ 1 3 ~
sanctifies tliein. TYhel~tlicy got to tllc cnd of
'"L* - -

270 INTERIOR OF THE SANCTUAI~Y.

C H A P T E R XI 11-

Interior. of the Sanctuary.-A ~iracle.-Ellth~lsiastic D e -

votees.-A Persian Orator.-Affecting scene.--Moosel-
lnaun Form of Prayer.-A Moollh.-Thc
Vuzeer of Meslled. - A Sacred Tragedy. - Tile Per-
formers.--The Vuzeer's Women.-A wonderful Boy--
An amusing Tragedy.-Attempted Conversion.-Ridi-
culous Peasant.--Prince Allmud Allee Meerza.-Poli-
tical Ignorance.-A Persian Courtier.-Tribes of Persian
I<horassaun. - A fine Couatry. -Province of thc 13lack
Tribe.-Character of Mollurn~nudICIlan - His singular
reverse of fortune-His personal appearance.

JUNE 29th.-This evening, a t dusk, I made

a tour of the places inside the sanctua~y,with =M

the Syud. I had resolved not to visit t h e

shrine, Fraser having proved it t o be an under-
rem
taking more dangerous than interesting ; b u t
my friend, unwilling that I should come to Me- m o m
shed and not see its greatest wonder, tllwarted rest
my resolution, before I was aware what was his
intention. A t a small door, to the left of tilc scat
,
golden porch, sat a man in the gloom, wit11
was
several pairs of slippers before him ; the Syud,
mas
 A MIRACLE.

it becalm requisite to shuffle off mine also, and

follow 'hiin .into what is called Aliverdi I<han9s
goombuz, a fine mosque, regarding which there
is a very incredible anecdote.* We left on
one side a room set apart for women to pray in,
and passed into the " kishick khanell," or guard
hall, where the servants of the shrine keep
watch. There were b~ztfew persons hefe, and
those engaged in conversation ; so, skreening
ourselves by the high doors, we sat down, and
took a good look into the adjoining chamber,
Dnrul Houffaz, which was of semicircular
form, domed, and of great height and size.
There was a strong glare of many lights, and
t h e place was nearly filled with turbaned Syuds
and Moolliis, and pilgrims of many countl-ies.
Soine were seated with their backs to the walls,
* I t is related that, in the time of Shah Abbass the Great,
Aliverdi Khan was blind, and continually prostrate at the
shrine of the saint. Shah Abbass, coming to pay his vows,
remarked the blind man, and asked him how long he had
bcen there ; four years was the answer. cc Then," said the
monarch, L r I fear YOU must be a bad man, and if you are not
restored to sight when I come out from Ziarut, 1'11 order
your head off." The unhappy man, report says, hastened to
scatter much money that he had about his person, begging
t h e bystanders to gatl~erit, and pr,ay for him ; ancl such
was the success of their intercessions with the saint, that he,
on t h e spot, recovered his sight, and subsequently built the
mosque in gratitude for the miracle.
 rcnrli~~g or talking ; others stood a n d conversed
in groups ; and friends, meeting, stayed t o salute
eacll other, aild mutually wish acceptclrlce of
tllcir vorvs. Before the door t h a t led into the
slwinc, rr7crescatcd devotees, weeping, and beat-
ing thcir llnlietl breasts most extravagantly ;
~vhileotliers stood lautta+ing t h e form before
entering, :uld in the COS~ICI'S stit doctors, servants
of the shrine, reading tllc l<orttn aloud.
It was n sccnc t o bewilder one, and 1 was
thiuliing rvlicthcr 1 was not dreaming, when
rny con~paniontouched my hand, and rising,
Icd ille quiclily across till we came beneath
tlle centre of tllo doulc. Stopping for a mo-
mcnl bcihre thc door of the shrine, we bent
o ~ l r11cnrlsin s d ~ l t cto~vnrclsit, and then passed
out illto n s~llallcrchninbcl; in which stood a
magnificent gilt ciu~delabrum, in the shape of .%?,%.
a trec, bcariilg forty branch-lights. T o have ~ ~
coinpleted tlie ceremony, we should have ell- ccr
terecl the sanctum, and walked r o u n d the tomb, T v a
but tlie light was too broad t o render t h a t a. i RXI1
safe proceeding, especially at such a season; by
for, had the alarm been given of an infidel spe
polluting the shrine, t h e zealots a t the door . - 311U
~vouldhave shortly made a convert or a martyr I l le
of him. Being unprepared for t h e alternative, fee
 A PERSIAN ORATOR, 273
nuc~-scci ceremony, and to pass out into a beautifully
o sal-~ltc
s proportioned enclosed square ; traversii~gwhich,
a x ~ e c< b f we foulld ourselves in the Gowher Shaud
nto t11c mosque, built by the wife of one of Tamerlane's
lcl h<-:tt- sons, a prince who has left memorial of his pyety
gall tly ; in many sacred sentences of broad Arabic writ-
befi31.c ing, with which he embellished the walls of
;el-v:ilt t s this and of other Mohulumudan temples.
W h e n we entered, the faces of the crowd
with which we mixed were turned towards
Kerbolah, and they were listening with intense
interest to the words of a speaker mounted on
a pulpit of steps, who, with c c 'kerchief in hand,"
alternately wept and harangued-his tlieme,
the martyrdom of the sainted Hossein. The
mosque was but partially lighted ; sufficiently
so to show the speaker and the expression of
q m e of his auditors' countenances ; farther U

within, the mosque was dark, but we could dis-

cern by the glimmering light on the wall, that it
was crowded to the extremity. Though I but
imperfectly understood the orator's words, aided
by my friend I could catch the tenor of his
speech, and felt myself becoming gradually
inucli interested. H e was gifted with a deep
inelodious voice, and had entire sway over the
feelings of those whom he addressed. When,
detailing the cruelty with ~vllicl~ Hossein's son
VOL. I. T
was murdered in his very arms,* he spohc of
the lamelltations of the mothcr-all tvcrc sof-
tened, and wept ; but as, after a pause. be welit
on t o tell of the youthful courage of liis sister
Zeinab's two sons, their sorrow grczdu:~lly gnvc
way to admiration, whicll they cxpresscd ill n
deep hum of applause ; and, w b a l Ilc (1un:ribed
the noble firmness wit11 which thc martyr lnct
death, wlien a11 his friends had fr~llenfor l1i111,
they caught the enthusiasm of tllc spcnlicr, and
burst into a proud and prolonged sllout of-
$'Hossein !"-I have in vain tried to dcscribc
this scene : i t was one of those tvllicli ol~ce
witnessed is nevcr forgotten, but I feel that 11ly
words scarcely give an idea of it,
* T h e substance of this part of the trngecly is trt~lyafrcct-
ing, and Persians, in their love for thc martyr, lavish thcir
choicest expressions upon the dcscriptions of it. Zcezced's
general liad cut off I-Iossein's small party fkom communicnn-
tion with the Euphrates, and t l ~ e ysuffcrcil tlio gmatcst (1;s-
tress from thirst. The ~ n o t l ~ eofr I-Iossein's ini:lnl boy,
Allee Asghur, or Allee Lhe LittIc, Dorn cstrcrno cxl~austion,
was unable to give the breast to her child. IIossi!in, thcre-
fore, taking he boy in his arms, gallopcd up to his c~lc~riics,
and appealed to tlieir Ilumanity, saying, l L 011nw I)o tlic coil-
sequence of my offence to you, but do not deny u drop of
0 s ~ is ilyingl"
water to an innocent, l~elplcsschild, ~ ~ 1 1mothcr
The rcply to this airccting addrcss was :ifligllt of armws,
one of which, more fatally dircctcd tllnn ~ I i e~.cst,".struck
((

througll the throat of the infilnt inio i t s fittllcr's ;WIN.

 MOOSE1,MAUN POltRS OF PlthYElt. 275

SPol;ie of 'Through low-arched vaults, which b o r d c ~this

Yere sof- mosque, we found our way illto the great
h e xye~lt squnre again, and then I, to m y alarm, perceived
h5.a sister that we were followed b y a mooll% covered
ally gnvc with an imlnense white turban, who, at a little
3Scd distance, dodged a s wherever we went. T h e
dcs cl-ibeci Syud, seeing this, turned short into a small
srtyr met mosque open t o the square, and cornmei~ced
f o r him, a for111 of prayer, which I saw was not the
aker, czlld I usual one, and therefore thought my best
kOLlC of- [ course was to stand b e h i d him in a reverential
describe attitude, whereas P sl~ouldhave sat on my heels
~ichonce behind him. Having resolved always to make
L t11a.t m y I an excuse for not saying prayers rather than
coinmit a regular mockery of any thing so
sacred, I had not given myself the trouble to
truly affect-
lavish tllcir
learn the Moosel~llau~l forms ; but in this in-
Zeezeed's stance I should have foui~da slight knowledge
cor~~nrlnicn- of them u s e f ~ ~witl~out
l, being in the way of
gl-eatest dis- n ~ yscruples. T h e old man, who had seated
infant boy, himself at the entrance, seeing my posture,
: exhaustion,
came LIP to me, and for what appeared a very
;sein, there-
his enemies, long minute, peered hard into my face, and ran
con-
: be t l ~ c his eye over m y person; he then asked me
y st dl-op nf why, if I was a Mooselmaun, 1 did not also
:r is dying !" say my prayers. I do not remernbe~ever t o
; of nl-rows, have felt inore uncomfortable; the Syud was
~ - e s f ;struck
,~'
s.1-
1-n.
prostrate before me, uncoilscious of what was
T 2
 "1 1 1 I;RTIKXCTOUS ~ I O O ~ ~ L ~ .

going- 011, nllcl tile old inall was pressing his

Illllbsti~ll \ ~ i t l :tl pcrtii~a~ity that lllade me very
11111~11 iilc*lillL'd to kll0r+k lii111 down a n d rull for
it ; ]rut I tro~i~~liai~dcil myself so far as not to
ailsn-cn. Iliiii, and fctclied two or t l ~ r e edeep
sols, t1i:tt he 1nig11talppose ille lveeping for the
scrrrc.,n.s of IIossei~~.H e appeared very dis-
s:itisfictl, :lll(l ~ ~ l l e 1lie1 lcft ine and went to the
door, I fully cspcctc(1 that h e w o ~ l l dbring a
crowd ill upoil ss; but now the Syud had

'I'liis scttletl tlic sus1)icions of our persec~ztor:

:it: Inkst 11r left us, and llastily regaitining our
slippcrs,<{+ rvc retul.ned home.
Sir ,Joliti h1:icdonald had given me intro- e l l o u g l r tc
ductory lcttcrs for tlie Prince and Vuzeer, and I tel; t l tcbn
lied obtained otllers from the Icing's son govern- t h a t it w
irlg at Tehrttua ; 11aving forwarded these, I that fto 1
recci.crecl a11 invitation to visit t h e Vuaea-, and but a t tl
" 11'c liad bccn all this time walking without shoes, no adjourn 1
one being allo~vedto visit the interior otherwise than bare-
foot, or with stockings on. The men w l ~ okeep t l ~ eslippers , - wel-e ~11
arc retilarkable for their memory : with sometimes as many
as one hundred pair of sl~oesbefore them, they seIdom fail
illto :X sli
to sclcct those belonging to a stranger, and t o put them
befi~rchim aln~ostas sooil as he can asli for them.
 TIIE VUZEELt OF NlESl-IKD. 277
lnau was p~cssingltis this morning, the 30tl1, I went accordingly
ity that lnndc me very to the charbaugh, where stood his residence
him dosv1.1n l ~ drun f o ~ amollg the ruined gardens axid palaces which
lyself so far as not to Nadir Shall constructed. Meerza Mousa re-
d two or tlircc deep ceived us in a large garden, sitting with a
)sc nie ~veepingfor the few friends on a carpet spread on the paved
l e nppcnrcd very clis- walk. H e was a remarlcably dignified and
bft m e and went to the well-mannered man, wit11 a sunlreil yet still
,Elat lie ~ v o ~ z lbring
d a piercing blaclc eye, and a very long black
; now tllc Synd had beard.
niid seeing l ~ o wmat- H e welcoined us with an agreeable smilc
r of great nos~cltnlutlcs, and many civilities, regaled as wit11 tea and
it11 his cloak carclcssly fruit, and, addressing his fiiends, begged thein
sclose his grccn swh. to understand that, for honour, integrity, ve-
ns of our persecutor: racity, telling the truth, discretion, learnill$,
hastily rcgnir~irigour and fighting, the English were unrivalled
me. among the Franks ; to which they were polite
had given ixc intro- enough to yield unq~~alified assent. The mninis-
nce and Vuzcer, and I ter, then changing his manner, said gravely,
the Icing's soil govern- that it was tlleir religious festival time, arid
g forwarded these, I that he must beg me to excuse his rising;
visit tlie Vnzcer, and but a t the same time politely invited us to
: wnllcitlgwitllout slloss, no
adjomn to a neighbou~ing court, to witness
tcrior otllcrwisc tllaii bnrc- the performance of a sacred tragedy; and we
: 111~11who keep tl10 slippers we1-e shown up a foul and broken staircase,
+: with so~nctirtlcvas IluIny into a slip of a room with a sinall window
:fort tllcm, tllc!y scltla~~i
fail just over the stage, one of many in a large
strungc13, atrd to put tl~cm by liis family and friends.
can nsli ibr tlii~ni.
building
 ricll illen ill Persia are accustomed to
erect stages for these representatiolls, and n o t
oilly to pay the perforiners, b ~ l tto provide
refreshment for all who choose to come, always
ice-watel; and sometimes sherbets. In IXeerza
'i\IousaYscourt mas erected a platform h u n g
with black clot11 ; a great crowd of men m d
women were assembled, and sukkaus, or water-
cm~iers,went among them with iced watel;
biddii~gthem drinlr and be thanlrful, rernem-
bering the tliirst of the blessed martyr.
The performance commenced with amst-
teur chant by boys and old men, than which
ilotliing inore discordant could well be irna-
giiied. Next, boys mounted the lower steps of
 TIIE I-'EI~FOIE~\IEI~S. 2 78
'ersia are acc~~stolllec~ to from his discou~se,had not found it a profitable
represe~ltations, and not avocatioil ; for his lecture, lilre an Iris11 sermon,
rformers, ~ L t I t o provide wns interlarded wit11 nluc11 personal anecdote,
lo choose t o come, al~vnys and he occasiollally forgot the sorrows of Hos-
nes sherbets. In Rleerzn sciri in liis own. c G The eyes," he commenced,
?rected a platform hung " which do not weep for I'iossein, illny they

great crowd of men and become siglltless !-blessed are the tears shed
d, a n d suklra~zs,or water- for a martyr, they will cause t5e face of the
t l ~ e mwith iced vate el; believer to shine hereafter !" The waters of the
n d b e t h a n l c f ~ ~ lremem-
, llcart thus poured forth, he assnred his hearers,
blessed martyr. would forin large pearls, u~l.~icll the angel GR-
~ i n m e n c e dwith an ama- briel would put into their hands as passports to
nd old men, than i~rhicll Paradise ; and then he went on to say, " I t is
[ant could well be ima- now thirty years that I have been shouting the
~ u n t e dt h e l o w e r steps of saint's praises in Mcshed, and I am now ia
it, to recite verses coni-. danger of wanting bread.'' Tile only, to me,
, a n d were succeeded by interesting mail wllo spolre was an Arab, ap-
1t l ~ e pulpit accordiilg to parently not a paid performer, who, making his
? best of these speakers way through the crowd, ascended the steps,
t o i ~ a u n sin the ten days and strucl; at once into a vigorous strain of
:to&ng a t t h r e e or four nine feet, to which a11 returned a cliorus of the
a large sum for Persia, salne measure, beating their breasts in accom-
ned, for the great exer- paniment. The figure alld tlle gestuses of the
iged t o make cause them speaker were singularly strilring, and the chant
es, and, I should think, was really melodious.
s. The chief performer The11 followed the tragedy of the murder of
i-om hoarseness, aild his Allee Acbel., I-I[osseinyseldest son, who at thc
speakel; who, to judge. $nnZe entered with a sword struclc into the
280 TI-lE VUZEER'S WOMEN.

brain of a false head, and living long enough of nlorri:

t o recite some pathetic verses, died after the of' ~ v o o
approved fashion of stage heroes. t n i r ~ e dI
The order of the day was to be as melancholy tribe so1
as possible, and those who could not weep un- S e l v e s TI
affectedly at least beat their breasts and looked S C C L:~ n
unhappy. W e noticed one old man below us, &e t tles,
with an orange-coloured beard, the fountain of by h i s c
whose sorrows being dried up, be could not: for 11othjng
the spul of him squeeze out a tear, and the ex- sr-tl-ed 11:
pression of his face, as shotting his eyes tight auftaub:
and screwing up his beard, h e tried to weep, that the
was quite comic. Hearing a stir in an adjoin- 11e vrou11
- chamber, I had the curiosity to look through
ing Two
a chink in a dool; and saw about a dozen, I I n o r e 21
\

suppose the Vuzeer's, women ~znveiled,weeping perform

and beating their bosoms at the representation. T h e Sh
My conscience, however, told me that i t was Crzliph
not polite to reward the minister's civility by death, :
gazing at his ladies, and the consequences pm-t of
n~igllthave been unpleasant had I been dis-
covered, so I contente'd myself with a transient tlic till1
look. The performance over, a stout water-
carrier came in, bending uilder the weight of a nc n c e .
bull's hide filled wit11 water, and, not content -yore a
with this display of strength, he took up three ~ v l i i c l :l
children, on his back, and stood for a few
moments under the accumulated weight. Sets *
UZEEIt'S WOMEN.

ead, and living long euougl~ of momis-dancers then calne in, clapl)iug pieces
;hetic verses, died after the of wood togethel; and we were lastly enter-
f stage heroes. tained by some Bungushes (men of a Slieall
day was t o be as melancholy tribe ~outl~-\vest of Caubul), who beat than-
.ose who could not weep un- selves with chains. TVe hoped also to have
)eat their breasts and looked seen a wonderful boy, eater of glass a i d brass
ticed one old mail below us, kettles, but were told tliat, having become riel1
lured beard, t h e fouiltnin of by his exhibitions, he had lately taken to eat
g dried up, be could not for nothing but pilau. A resident of Meshed as-
reeze out a tear, and the ex- sured us that this boy once o f f e d to eat his
, as shutting his eyes tight auftauba* for half a real, but that, feeling sure
is beard, h e tried to weep, that the monster would be as good as his ~vord,
Hearing a stir i n an adjoin- he would not sacrifice his pot.
the curiosity t o look thi*o~lgH Two evenings afterwards I was witness to a
and saw about a dozen, I more amusing act of the tragedy, whicll was
i

s, women unveiled, weeping performed under a tent in the maill street.

osoins at t h e represents tion. The Sheahs have a tradition that, ~vllcnthe
vever, told ine that it was Caliph Yezeed caused Hossein to be put to
3 the minister's civility by death, n Frangee Elc11ee-f (though f m wlmt
?s, and t h e consequences part of Europe does not precisely a p p e ~ )who
,
npleasant had I been dis- happened to come on a mission to Damascus a t
ted myself with a tmnsient the time, exclaimed against the foulness of the
ance over, a s t o ~ water-
~t deed, and suffered martyrdom for his imperti-
ling mlder t h e weight of a nence. The actor, w l ~ opersonated the Elchee,
h water, and, not con tent wore a velvet foraging cap, upon long ringlets
trength, he took up three which fell down his back and the sides of' llis
k, and stood for a few face ; one coloured handkerchief was tied round
,ccumulated weight. Sets * Copper jug. 1- Friullc ambassador.
282 AN AMUSING 'TliAGED Y.

llis neck, and another 011 his arm, a17d the rest
of his apparel was Persian. H e was altogether
a strange figure, but seemed to flatter hiinself i$ up, and
that he was quit en costunze. "'I'hat is not @sed it, a
bad," said a Shirauz friend of t h e road, who l,e next b
had attached himself' to not bad for ,+rievous sir
t7
Meshed, where t l ~ e yl~av'n't seen Feringees; &e death c
but, Shirauz Aga ! if you had seen the Frangee
Elchee we had at Bhirauz ! by hcaveils I ' m $peech by
speaking the truth t o you ; when Elchee Mal- -fJe ivas let
coolm came fi*om Hindoostlia t o go to the out, he tur:
fortunate dust of the Shah's foot, he gave the Mohulli
me11 of my city a whole suit of red regimentals, &c. The c
cocl~s' feather cap and all, and you'd have re]
sworn there was a real Feriilgee on the stage, lifting up
Hei Sbirauz !" I ~ i ~ fervo
~cl
Tlie Frangee Elchee being introduced with 1 was noi
3 discordant flourish of trumpets, presented jn peace, f
several trays of presents, and, mtattering some n o t in his
gibberish which passed for a Europcail Ian- aoood exam
guage, took a scat st the foot of the throne. b e though
A so17 of Hosseinys (Allee, commonly called could bo t
(( Zein-oo Aubideen," the Ornament of the Reli- cause joy a
gious) addressed a spivitccl hnrai~g~ae
to Yezeecl, said, W O L
which I could not follow, but it appeal-ed to among t h
affect the foreign anlbnssailor vcry mucll. Pre- o f one Pbl
sently the l ~ c a dof the martyr was brorlgllt in ccived his
011 a spear, itncl tlirown at thc foot of tllc Bleza. 'I'h
 ATTEMPTED CONVERSION. 383
;her oil 11% arm, and t h e rest tlirone. Transported at the sight, the Elchee
Persian. H e was altogether 4
rose from his seat, and, going to the head, took
i ~ seemed
t t o flatter hiillself it up, and with passionate expressiolls of grief
eyz C O S ~ Z G ~ Z ~5c. That is not
Itissed it, and then threw dust upon his own ;
LIZ friend of the i*oad, w l ~ o
lie next began to abuse the Caliph for the
self to me--<' not bad for g~.ievoussin that he had colnlnitted in causing
ey hav' n't seen Feringces ; the death of a descendant of his ~xopbet; but
if you hacl seen the Frangee Yezeed, enraged at his audacity, stopped his
Shirauz ! by heavens I'm speech by ordering his inimediate execution.
t o ysti ; when EIcllee M a l - H e was led away to death, but, when going
I3i1icloost&n to go t o the out, he turned, and nttered the confessio~lof
Le Shah's foot, he gave the the Mohuniin udan faith,-" La Illah I11 Illah !"
t~olesuit of red regimentals, kc. The crowd who were assembled on this
a n d all, and you'd have occasion repeated it soleinnly after him, and,
eal F e r i n g e e on the stage, lifting up their hands to heaven, cried with
1nucl1 fervour cc klllal~! Ullal~!"
hee being introduced widi 1 was not allowed to enjoy this representation
h of trumpets, plesentetl in peace, for my Shiranz acquaintai~cecould
ents, and, inr-rttering some not in his zeal help admonishing me by the
sed for a Erlropean la]]- good example of the Elcllee (my countrynlan,
st the f o o t of tl-te throne. 11e thought). R e hinted that, if the truth
(Allee, commonly caller1 could but find its way into my soul, I s h o ~ ~ l d
the Ornament of tlie lteli- cause joy all over Meshed, and my dotlles, he
1.ited harangue .to Pezecd, said, would be made shreds of, and shared
bllo w, bt.1t it appeared to among the devout, as had lately been those
lassador very much. 1'rz.e- of one Hbn Oollah, who had miraculously re-
e martyr was brougt~ti t 1 ceived his sight at the tomb of the Itnanm
) \ 4 r ~ 1 at the foot of t11c Eeza. The temptation was great, but all my
 serious thougllts were put to fliglit 1)y tllc
cstr:rv:ryplt!cs of :l ridiculol~sold pc:ls:~t, lrrho, U

lot t)llillg :ll~lt'to get a frcmt l)hicle, liad brouglit

llis dorlkeg tip ti) the post of the u r r n i ~ ~ gand, ,
I~oIdi~lg 1)y it, stood oli his pack-sncldIe, and
looked over the hcnrls of thc circle. 1':vcl.y
irlcidcxlt reprcscr~tedwas to Ilirrl n rcnlityj nnil
I question whcther tlic fiirnily of the xnalqtyr
suffered more nlc~ltnl ngcroiiy tll:ln did this
votary :tt the representation of tllcir soxro~vs.
IIr: npplautled i d . tlte nrg~uucntsof tllc spealzer
utho ruprcstllrtcd Atlcr., and wept :~udiblyat his
:~dilress ttr tlit: t y ~ t n t :ud,
, ~vbcnt l ~ cE'rntlgce
I<lc~l~c)c*
1)0g;111to :let, lip ~*olil(l ill I I O W ~ S Ccon-
t;till llinlsc~lf,but cried out alcrgc*ti~illly--~~ SCC
to lliill ! scc 11iln! IIC;IP the I+allg,r~e! Ai
lilkoiln! an itiliilcl plcncls tllc causc of tllc
l~lcssed ~llitrtyl; and tllc 11cnrt of stoiic is not
1.llovcrl ! - ( k ~ i lt:kc away Iris blessing from
'E'czccd ! ~ l i ~ r a! ''l i
I)ur.il~gtllc JIoliurrum tlic Prillcc was not
aoccssi1)le. \\'lie11 tlic ccremonics were cncied,
\vc were Iionolllvtl with :ul audiclicc, Ilaving
first llxd n sllnrp skirlnisli with tile Vuzccr
about Iny bcillg permitted to sit it1 t h e pre-
scrlcc. llccrza hIous:~nras so furioirs in en-
g point, that I fancied h e was in
f o r c i ~ ~this
cnnicst, but tllc Syutl quietly lnct his :11*gu-
q'I-- PRINCE AIIMUD ALLEE MEERZA. 285
sight by t l ~ c
nlents by stailding on the plea of not wishing
1 p e a s a n t , JV~IQ, t o insult the " heir-apparent," in whose pre-
ee, h a d brougllt sence I had sat, and whose dignity was un-
strvning, n ~ ~ ~ ? ,
questionably not less than that of the Prince of
Lcl<r-~addle, n r ~ t l Meshed.
c i r c l e . Every The residence of the Prince was in the cita-
a reality, :mcl clel, a place of no great strei~gtl>,the interior of
of t h e marl;ys which was in a state of ruin, exhibiting fallen
t l 3 a z 1 did this
walls and rubbishy courts. W e alighted at the
t h e i r sowonfs. arcl~wayof the inhabited part, and passed into
of t h e speakcr a hall where twenty men, dressed in imitation of
,ztz clibly at Elis soldiers, lay asleep ; these we afterwards learn-
2 t h e Frangcc
ed were the Prince's artillelymen, who were to
12 13 owise ~011-
have been drawn up to show the Feringee the
- t ~ c ~ ~ l l Syp -e - ~ ~ strerigtl~of the @rrison, but the porter expect-
F ~ - c ? l ~ g !e eAi ing to see a being like the one represented in
c a u s e of tllc the Mohurrum, let me pass in my Persian
€ s t o n e is lot; cost~xme. Prince Ahmud Allee Meerza fully
b l l c s s i n g from justified the accounts we had heard of him;
he received us with an affectation of dignity
'rincewas not which h e had not the manners to s ~ ~ p p o r t ,
s w e r e ei~dctl, and repeated the set speech about the honour
ience, liavir~g and probity, &c. of the English, after the Vu-
1 t h e V~~%C'CL' zeer, whoy leaning on a Ioi-~gsticlc, stood below
; 2x1 thc prc- the window at which his nominal lord was
s cu-
~ r i . o n in seated. The Shahzadeh wished to ltnow whe-
d I l c tvasjn t l ~ e Ir was a servant of the Icing of England or
let h i s :u.gu- of the Coon~anee. " Of the lattcr, themselves
 256 POLITICAT, IGNORANCE.

the devoted serva~tsof ' H i s Mqjesty the King

o f England, and Empei-or of the Seas.'-
'. Cooazpnnee clre d e e r ust ?" asked the Prince;
" 14T11at is the Company?" 1 was about to ex-
plain the mystery of the twenty-four stools,
when the Vuzeer confidently answered, that Sir
Jehu Malcolm was the Company. 1 would
have corrected him, but no, he was quite posi-
tive. " Ask me," said. he, with the air of a Inan
entirely master of his subject, " ask me, ]I pos-
sess information on that score ; Sir John Mal-
colm first came as Elchce to the King of Kings,
and then went to Bombay and became Counz-
palzec." I t was plain that any assertiolls on b u t Ilc nr
my part would be lost, and, consicleril~g that expect;:I 1
the IJonourable Court might be more un- u p 511 int
~vorthily represented, 1 suffered the Vuzeer w i t 3 1 ; an(
to abide in his conceil-, and bore the re- scx-uti~~ii
proach of aot knowing 'so n ~ u c habout my l1ir13 for
owl1 country as did a man who had never clliefs of I
left Irbn. province (
Meerza Blousa was at this time enjoying the T l l c ru:
credit of being abont the cleverest man of his exte~t cl IIC
day, and he probably owed much of t h e sue- h a c I to 1
cess of his political negotiations to this good b o r c l e r of
rerjort : for it was no shanie to be outwitted sot~th ; b
 A I~ERSIAN COURTIEK. 387
view of things. H e was a good specimen of a
Persian courtier, geatlema1~ly and quiet, gra-
cio~zsto all classes of men, and imperturbably
civil, even to those who abz~seclhim ;. always
answering the most humble suitor, vrrith c c 23c
se7. o cAeshvzAga."--r~B y my eyes and head trust
t o me." His nominal lord, the Prince, was a
mere pagealit, who had so little tlie manage-
ment of affairs, that, to use the strong expres-
sion of our informants, he sometimes " wanted
bi*ead that lie might eat it," and theVuzeer had
the real exercise of what authority there was at
Meshed. Some odd stories were told of him,
but he was probably as upright as you could
expect a Persian to be who had been brought
up in intrigue, ancl who had rogues t o deal
with; suld it is less the part of a traveller to
%
scrutinize the past acts of his life, than t o praise
him for his tact in managing the turbuleat
I chiefs of what is by courtesy called the Shah's
proviace of IChorassaun.
. The rule of the Goverrior of Mesbed should
extend nortli-west by south-east f r o ~ nAbbassa-
bad to Toorb~zt-eShaik Jam, and fsoin the
border of Koordistaun, on the north, to Tubbus
south ; but the chieftains of Persian Khoras-
saun have ever been more studious to preserve
the balance of powcr among theinselves than
288 TRIBES OF PERSIAN 1c11onASsAuN.

to honour the Shah's authority; and n/Peerza

hlousa had enough to do to sustain the Prince
a t all a t hleshed, by playii~gone chief against
another. I n 1828, Mohulnlnud Khan ILara-e, sai
of Toorb~but-eHyderah, ejected Hossein IChan f0:
(the Shah's sirdar) by stratagem, and kept the
P'
city of hleshed for six months ; spoiling the 11 a
place, and levy,ing heavy fines upon the inha- f
bitants ; and shortly before our arrival Seid 5n
J/lohurnmud Khan, chief of t h e strong moun-
tain fortress of Kelat, had (though nominally
a Sheah) leagned with the ToorI~muns, and
kept the holy city in a state of blockade, until
he was lnclrily lrilled b y a swivel ball, in an
encounter ~ v i t hsome of tlle ICoord chief's men.
The tribes of Persian ILhorassaun have
hitherto preserved an equality, b y making com-
inon cause to weaken the power of any one who
showed a desire to raise himself above his
neighbours ; , b u t the ICoords have of late years
become so formidable, that it may b e questioned
whether they will not retain their ascendancy.
I n Frasel" interesting account of his j o ~ ~ r n e y
from Meshed to Astrabad througll the ICoord
country, may be read t h e history of this peo-
ple : t h e greatest of their chiefs is Reza ICouli
Iihan, who, allied by ma1-riage with the other
lord, Tt\Tujuff Allee IChan, and on terins of great
 COUNTRY BETWEEN MBSIIED AND IIERAUT. 289
friendship witli the descendants of Begl.er
e Prince IClian, late a ICoord chief of note, has render-
ed hiinself the inost influential man i11 IChoras-
saun. His coniitry is a fine one, aiid lie tliere-
in I l h a n fore pays sufficient homage to tlie Shall to
preverit its being visited by a 1'0ya1 army ; aiid,
having withdrawn himself in a great measure
from tlie otlier chiefs, lie generally finds i t his
interest to take part witli the Prince of Meshed.
g moun- The country between Meshed and Herarrt
may be shortly described. A little eastward of
the south of Rleslied there is a considerable
fall, and I am inclined to tllinli a break in the
Elborz, or, as they may now be called, Paro-
pamisau mountains, which shortly after bend
dowrii to a point eight miles east of Heraut,
ng com- and then I imagine turn easterly t o meet the
Hindoo Koosh.
A small branch runs down from about She-
reefabad, in the main range, to the south of
Heraut, which is useful iii describing the poli-
tical divisions of the co~antry; for, though for
two-thirds of the distance to Heraut it nomi-
nally belongs to Futteh Allee Shah, tliat mo-
narch is not able to control the tribes who

T o the west of tlie centre of this range is

Toorbut-e-Hyderah, a town which, once much
290 PROVINCE OF THE RLACIC TRIBE.

larger, now numbers, perhaps, ikon1 six to eight

hundred houses. It is the seat of Mohumlnud
Khan, of the Iqara, or black tribe, a set of ma-
rauders who are well named. Their provillce
extends from Shereefabad, on the north, t o n
place called Danial, four inarches sooth of the
capital : on the west it touches the " sirhud" of
the province of Toorsl~ish,and eastward it is
bounded by the small range above mentioned.
T h e country is naturally a fine one, and in the
time of Ishaulr Khan (the father of the present
chief) it was tolerably well cultivated, and
afforded pasture t o so many sheep, that it is
said some fourteen hundred dogs were k e p t to
watch them ;* but now, as Mohumnlud IChan
is continually aggressing some one, who (nccord-
ing to the inode of retaliation in these coun- to
tries) endeavours to lay waste his lands, a n d as, tht
by plundering merchants and travellers, he has of
nearly shut the once great road through his ch:
country, his people have little inducement to Tc
++ Seven hundred muns of flour, i t is said, were daily 11e
made into bread for these dogs: each dog would e a t lialf fat
a mull daily, and tend one hundrpd sheep, which supposes w
one hundred and ibrty thousand of tlic latter animals ; tliese M
were said to belong exclusively to tlie Khan. Exaggerated spi
as the story is, it shows that very inally shcep wore pasturod
in the province.
292 HIS SINGTJLAR REVERSE OF FORTUNE.

mud I(hanYs name : when his son, Prince MO

Hussan &lee Meerza, was ruler of I<horas- I'rin
saun,' his &$ajesty wrote, desiring him to seize QEIC~
tke Toorbut chief, and either t o lrill or blind Qoiir
him, or send him to the capital. Hussan Allee govc
Aleerza did catch M o l ~ u m m u dKhan, but in :tske
one of those wild freaks for whicl? he is famous, 1-1an
instead of lrilling his prisoner, he made mockery kvhe
of him, by stripping him nearly naked, smear- 111e
ing his beard wit11 curds, and exposing him littlc
bareheaded in the sun to the derision of the 3..he
royal troops. The strangest part of the story lea11
remains yet to be told: when the Prince had fore
heaped all these indignities upon his captive, tl1os
he ordered hiin into his presence, and, putting coul
the Shah's finnau into his hand, desired l ~ i mt o e y e5
decide his owl1 fate. AIohummud IChan, b y a lnid
clever appeal to Hussan Allee Meerza's gene- his
rosity, not 0111~turned away liis wrath, b u t I1ul-I
induced hi111 suddenly to become as lavish of ~ 1
his favours as he had been of his injuries; mer
when the I<han came out from audience, it was COU
with a jewelled sword belted over a " dress
which the Prince had wor11," and the next
thi11g that Hussaii Allee Meei-za did was, t o
go to Toorbut and marry the chief's sister.
* Ilussan Allee Meerza was sent to take the place of llis
-son,, r l - i lJ C ~

; hi^ to
ill bli~~d
Mohi1111rnud IChan, probably thinking that the
of ~ ~ ~ , ~ , ~ r a ~I'rince's
- injuries and favours nearly balanced
each other, was not restrained from his former
courses, and he has since set the Shah, lais
Hussa,, ~ l l c c governors, and everybody else, at nought. I
than, bLlf;in asked a Jew of Meshed what sort of looking
mall he was. " I can tell you," he said, c' for
when he took this city, he sent for me to make
me pay money (God knows the Jews have
little enough of it, least of all those at Meshed).
The Khan was a thick-set man, and he sat

forehead close to his eyebro~vs,looking hard a t

tliose who were brought before him. No man
could stand his gaze. The greater part of his
eyes was white, .like a Hubbushee's," but the
-
middle was black; black, I beg to state, as
his heart, and that is as black as a pot." Mo-
IS wrath, I ~ t t humlnud Khan must now be a well-aged man ;
as l a v i s l r of when he dies, or if the long talked-of settle-
ment of Persian IChorassaun takes place, his
couiltry will probably recover itself.
ver a C~-C'SS

1d the zlrtst
did w ; . : ~to,
:hief"s sistsr.
the p l a c c cjt'
 *us tl

CHAPTER XIV.

Kllaff.- Tribe of Soonnee I-Iaznurehs. -Visit to Meerza

Abilool Jowaut.-His 1-lospitnlity.-Manners of the Per-
sians and the Prencll compared.-State of the Jews at
Meshed.-The Synagogue.-The Icetkhoda.-A Jewish
-
Wedding. - Sacred Melodies. Tlie Author's celebrity
;IS a IIakeel~~.-Invitntio~~
to the Calenter's.

EIGI-ITY-EIGIIT miles south-east of Toorbut is Z~III-

IChaff, n tow11 of five hundred houses, where is zaurc

seated the. chief of the Teimoore tribe ; and
west, between these two places, is the province
of Toorshish, which is described as a perfect . tures

COTllll

Aloo Bokhara chiefly come from Toorshish, and

raisins and other dried fruits are exported thence fortu
in large quantities. The capital of the pro- conv
viilce is the small town of Sooltanabad.
Chiefly t o the east of the snlall branch de-
scribed, between it and the great range from
IChire-abad to Rosanuck, are found the Soonnee

-
 TRIBE OF SOONNEE EIAZAUREFIS. 295
Hazaurehs, a turbulent, but not very numer-
ous tribe, who live both ia tents and houses,
and who have rendered allegiance t o the Per-
sians and t o the Affghauus as these powers
were severally able to enforce it. They possess
the three srrlaIl towns of Mahmosd-ibad, Toor-
but-e Shaik Jam, and ICahrecze, each per-
f
t haps consisting of two hundred houses ; and
i t to Meerxa
they cultivate grain along the base of the
rs of the Per. small, or, as it may be named, since it separates
' tIie Jews at the two Toorbuts, the Toorbut range. Their
1.-A Jewish chief is the son of Booneard Beg, a inan whose
name frequeatly occurs in the late llistory of
IChorassaun. T h e y are called Sooilnee Ha-
zaurehs, i n contradistinction to the Sheah Ha-
zaarehs, who hold the mountainous country
between H e r n u t and Caubul. They are vidlent
professors of t b e Soonnee creed, and tlieir fea-
tures show them to be descended from the Tar-
tars : these, or their thievish sympathies, have
unes called connected them closely with the Toorkmuns,
to whom they sell those whoin they have the
sted thence fortune t o kidnap. I n order to have such
convenient friends at hand, they allow them
the range of their country, and, consequently,
)ranch de- it is depopulated to the very neighbourhood of

le Soonnee A t I-Ieraut rules Shah I<araraun, so11 of the

296 MEERZA ABDOOL JOWAUT.

last Affghaun king, who keeps u p his preten-

sions to the sovereignty of which rebels de-
prived his father ; but I will treat of him ill s;t t
*5Ch* kh%prt
his place, and now return to Meshed, where ~'=%c.*&~,
we were regularly established, awaiting letters 5l:i.h ,,f
from our friends. xik 4 .XI ],i,,,
Some days after our arrival, the S y ~ z dtook lilt. i t 8 i , i t " ) \$

me to dine with his old friend Meerza Abdool e s t @ & - k .If1 ti,y
Jowant, Moojeteheid, one of the chief digni- :kth 3- <$%.-<~,k\itb

taries of the city, the same whom Mr. Fraser IPLlPtf x- f , , t i

frequently mentions, and to whose friendly in- t ~ 'I ; i % \\is1
terference that gentleman perhaps owed his life <it.-&
' * B"acabtli9
when i t was threatened by the fanatics of the ~ l r y ~g l V o ;Itat
city. AIeerza Abdool Jowaut is esteemed a
very Aflatoon* by the Meshedees. ITe is sup-
xk3k**5;46rib

x\ ;Ly, . " YI
.- 117
-
posed to inherit a perfect kiiowledge of Euclid ttr .rile, a\
from a mathematical p e a t uncle, and to be 1-k-i tIt>lbc%
equalled by few in the science of astronomy; 14:a :
bgI;iiitl
logic he has a t his tongue's e n d ; and his de- t. i
] i * ~ ~ t tire*
cisions, according to the Shirrs, are regarded as f4-W 1 1 , ~IliP
'little short of inspired ones, doubtless because t : t a r l , , nltic
the excellence of his disposition induces him to t h c * r t ' i~
do justice to every party. H e has a mania for I t i s 1nwrk."
every thing foreign, affects a little heeamia,t not \Yt* \v;
altogether doubting the philosopher's stone, X B ~ L L B L till. 1

and treasures up old boolcs and European knick- I 11 f34 %%$Itlt'

lit

knacks. As soon as my friend had visited him,

1 k i s ~ ~11i\
xl
1 3 rlailc 01
I' PIato. t Chemistry.
 IIIS LIBERALITY.

and told him with whom he was travelling,

Rleerza Abdool .Jowaut sent; me a kind mes-
sage, expressive of his regret that he could not
exactly show me the civilities he wished, since
the lnen of Rleshed were short-sighted, and had
given hiin some ugly 1;ames on account of his
intimacy with Mr. Fraser, but that he had an
esteem for my nation, and urould be glad on
any occasion to serve me. I owed this civility
partly to the Meerza's amiable disposition, and
to his wish to oblige the Syud, but in some
degree to his curiosity, which he gratified
.shortly after sending me the complilnentary
message by asking us to diililer in a quiet
way.-(( You were mentioning," said the Syud
to ,me, as we were on our way t o our host's
residence, that the Tartars did not invade
England;-however that may be, don't dis-
pute the point with Meerza Abdool Jowaut,
for he Ilas an l~istorical work upon Franges-
taun, which assures l~iln that they did, and
there is no need to put him out of conceit with

We waited to pay our devoirs to the old ,

.man till he had said his prayers in a small

1nosque.near the gate of his house. T h e Syud
kissed his hands in token of extreme respect ;
I made out a Persia11 obeisance, by placii~ga
-- . - , .
" * ', : li %
-. ,.-.-..-
h-&--.*-.." .
-"a,,

PERSIAN COURTESY.

llalld upon m y beart, and bending f ~ r ~ a r d ;

and R/Ieersa, motioning with his lollg ivory-
headed sticlc to the entrance of his house, gave .

us an of showing our breeding by

refusing to take place of him, and then led U S
u p a flight of steps to a broad terrace, where,
on two parallel slips of carpet, were placed n el;
OXX-I ~
pair of large silver lamps. T h e moment we never
were settled on our heels, the Rfeerza addressed
m e with-" You are welcome-you have con-
ferred hoi~our-you are very welcome-your
esteemed health is good. W h a t is t h e latitude
of London ?" Reference to the work men- lnde
n

birth-place, and he set me down for a man of

information. H e then talked of his astrono-
mical observations at Meshed, which brougllt
out its position, he said, nearly what Rlr. Fraser
had made it (a fudge, I thought, o n tlie old - w i t h 1.
gentleman's part). He pushed me ?ather hard fx-om h
upon some abstruse points in astronomy, b u t I d a t e s a'
fortunately there was another guest, who pre- i
I te r t : ~ i n
1
,vented the conversation from becolning . too
scientific, a lnercliant of Reshdt, who, havirlg b e sllo
gone across the Caspian t o Astralrxn, considered
himself warranted in telling soine very marvel-
lous anecdotes of.the Oroos.
 TIIE M EEBZA'S IIOSPITALITY. 299
forward; Our talk was seasonably interrupted by a deli-
long ivory- cious repast, liaadsoinely served on silver trays,
ouse, gave giving us a fair specimen of the style of living
reeding by of tlie higher orders of this city. There was the
:hen led us long rice of Peshower, <' that you may press
ace, wl~cre, down in the dish and it will rise again of its
.e placed a own elasticity, and which is so light that you
loment we never lrrlow when you have eaten enough of
a addressed it." With this were served pa~ty-coloured
have con- pilaus, omelettes, rich meats with sweet syrups,
Dm e-your and garlick stewed in milk; and t o drink,
,he IatitntIe sherbets that cc Tortoni" never dreamed of,
N O S ~ C IIIe11- made with cc rewass" and the juice of the fresh
i; his side, grape,- nectars which are conveyed from a
iidc of my China bowl to the lno~lthin deep spoons of
r a illall of the pear-tree wood, so delicately carved that
tis astro~~o- they tremble under the weight of the liq~zid.
cli brougllt Our host most courteously encouraged us to
Mr. F1.aser eat, putting elloice morsels of meat before ns
on the old with his fingers, and sometimes heIping us
rather hard from his own plate ( n politesse which certainly
nomy, but dates as far back as the time when Joseph en-
, who pre- tertained his brothers at Pharaoh's conrt, and
:oming too which in Persia is as great a one as call well
ho, liavilig be shown a guest); and he gave zest to the
col~sidcrcd repast by filling up his intervals with scraps
:ry inarvel- of poetical wit, which he bandied with tlie
Syud, than whom no one could play s~xcha
part better.
$00 PERSIAN AND PltENCII

T h e Persians have been likened to the French,

for having a constant fund of agreeable con-
versation, and for the politeness of their man-
n e r ; but it may perhaps be doubted whether
tlie French could say so much upoil so little,
aild whether their manners do not suffer from
the comparison. The 13ersians have no real
learning froin which to create their wit, and did,
yet two men of this nation seldo~nget together in a c o u l l t r )
without striking up a racy dialogue ; and they of c i v i l i t y 11
express themselves with so niucll politeness do not kll0
and good humour, that you imme&ately feel at selves w i t h
ease in their society, and can enjoy it, even
when but partly acquainted with their lan-
guage. They appeared to me to be the politer
people of the two; t o have the suavity of the
French, without their grilnace, and to be with-
out that << brusquerie" which is occasionally so make gene1
offensive in the Gauls : they can indeed be as lie inti-odut
bearish and disagreeable as any people, but they sun goes rc
seldom are so unless when their religious pre-
; the s u n ; 31
judices are excited. These are the inere opi- 1 and s o l ~ l e x
nions of a traveller : I did not form them only systelm, toc
at Meerza Abdool Jowaut's table, but a rccol- ment, Th
lection of his wit and politeness induces me to 1
I the e a r t h ' s
insert them here.
As a special instance of civility, I should
merition that the host ordered i11y tray to be
 b4ANNERS COMPARED. 301
the last removed, R coinpliment wllich m y
ignorance prevented me from feeling grateful
for at the time, but which the S y u d did not fail
i to enlarge upon, in particularising several little
i delicate attentions on the part of his friend,
j
which I had not remarked, b u t ~vhichwere
I evidences of the kindest consideration, coining,
!
as they did, from a illan of high religious rank,
i in a country where every, the slightest, shade
of civility marks a man's value in society. I
do not know what prevented our killing our-
selves with his rich dinner, unless it was some
delicious green tea, which lie recoinniended as
f " usle uz Chine," real China tea, and which was
' I *

brought in little China cups, cased with silver.

A lively conversation followed, which the
Meerza politely endeavoured occasio~lally to
make general. I n the course of conversation,
he introduced the great question, whether the
sun goes round the earth, or the earth rou11d
the sun ; and the Syud, being acquaiilted wit11
'

and somewhat of a convert t o our planetary

system, took the Coperiiican side of the argu-
ment. The Meerza made a stout dispute for
the earth's stability, but I tl~inlcone of the
arguments he laid most stress upon was this :-
That if the earth went round, there must be
a pressure one way, and that one of two sticks
 SCIENTII:IC CON VERSATION.

driven at equal depth into the ground cross-

ways, must in time be pressed farther in than
the other. cc If 1 were as some of this city,"
he said, goo~l-l~umouredly, " I sl~ould stop your
argnments by saying that your view of the
question is heretical, but 1 like to hear both
sides of every question. The Ferillgees are an
astonishing people, and it pleases me to hear
of any new grand principle being struck o u t ;
you wo~lldhave the world in the heavens, but,
I confess that, having built all my small know-
ledge upon the belief that it is stationhy, I
should, considering my years, wish it to remain
so till I am laid in it:"-"And then," interrupted
the Syud, cc there's little doubt of your going
where we tliink tlie world to be." " I am
already in Paradise," was the polite rejoinder,
and as i t was not to be expected that any thing
better could be said, we exchanged the compli-
ments of the niglit and separated.
I did not venture to the public baths of
Meshed, fearing to offend the people, and so
lose the liberty tvhicli I enjoyed of walking
where I would about the city ; but Meshed-e-
Norouz, who, in his love for liquor, had lost no
time in making himself acquainted wit11 those
who had it, introduced us t o some Jews, one of
 I' STATE OF TI-IE JEWS I N MESIIED. 303
whom, the son of their ILetkhoda, gave me the
e n t d e of their bath, which was heated twice a
week. There are about one hui~dredfamilies
o f Jews i11 Meshed. They are chiefly engaged
ill petty traffic, and, though not rich, their situa-
tioil is respectable compared with that of their
brethren in the cities of Tel~raunand Psphalian,
w h o go about, as in European countries, selling
a n d exchar~ging old garments ; but they are
11ot without a share of the indignities that are
1 ; entailed on their race. They inay aot pass the
pale of the sanctuary, ileither may they p u t
f o o t within the college-squares in which good
1 m e n are buried ; on their clotl~es,however new,
1 1: t h e y must wear a patch a t the breast; their
1 k caps must not be of the same form as those
1 1 w o r n by true believers, and they dare not re-
t u r n abuse, much less a bIow given by a Mo-
hla~ninudan; children throw stones and dirt at
1 t h e m in the streets, unchecked b y their parents,
I ]
%a&,
~ v h othink it a very ineritorious act to worry
t h e soul of an unbeliever ; and P one morning
saw a falceer take ail old Jew b y the heard, as
if he would have pulled it froin his face, and
accuse him of having been pasty to selling him
some years before to the Toorlrinuns ; iaor did
he release the terrified old man till l.ie pronlised
 804 VISIT TO THE SYNAGOGUE.

to pay a few reals, the crowd looking on as

Englisllmeil do at badger-baiting, and t h i n l r i l ~ ~
it capital sport.
TVe attended the Jewish synagogue one
Saturday, and the Rabbis were so captivated
by the Syud's ul~~recedentedly liberal opinions,
that they inade a point of showiag all that they
thought would interest us. The synagogue was
a square room, on two sides of whicb was a gal-
lery, with a lattice skreen-work for the wonien
to sit behind. From the centre of the chain-
ber, from the floor to the ceiling, rose four posts,
. . and on steps
- within these was the altar. Their
chanting- was in the Persian style, and very
discol.dant ; parts of the Old Testament were
read in Hebrew, and a homily was delivered in
the Persian language. VlThen praying, they
turned to Jerusalem, and covered their heads in
white mantles, and, at one part of the service,
the priest standing on the altar-steps, held up
the Pentateucl~,written on large rolls of parch-
ment, and the congregation crowded eagerly
round to look on it. It was an.affecting sight,
this " fragment of Israel," in Oriental garb,
adhering religiously to the ordinances of their
forefathers, amid the persecutions of the most
bigoted of a bigoted race. Not a man, they
said, had gone out from them.
 CIVILITY OF TI-IE ICETICIIODA. 305

After the service we were sllown into EI sinall

room, where were preserved with great care
more than fifty copies of the scripture; written
on rolls of parchinent by devout individuals,
who had presented them to the synagogue.
Each roll was kept in a case like a drum, on
which was a plate telling the name of the donor
and the date of the gift, and one copy, we were
told, was used i11 turn every Sabbath.
From the synagogue we repaired to the
I-CetkhodaYshouse, consisting of a range of
I double-storied rooms on one side of a neat
garden, round whicl~vines were carried on a
treillage. We sat on the walk, under the
I shade of a fine tree, and the Jew, though h e
would 11ot drilik with us, by reason of its being
the Sabbath-day, produced some bottles of
strong arrack and thin bad wine of his own
manufacture, and, seeing that we would only
taste it, lest some keen-nosed Mollurnmudan
sllould scent us, he begged us to take the
liquor home to comfort our hearts with at
leisure. There was such an air of comfort
about this man's house, that he thought it
necessary to apologise for it, saying, that we
saw all his wealth; that formerly the Jews
had money, but now, God help them, they
had ceased to hoard it, since some extor-
VOI,. I. x
306 A JEWISII WEDDING.

tionate ruler or otller was sure to take it from

them.
We became very intiinate with this people,
and in many of their llouses I observed much
to contradict theil* outward appearance of po-
verty. On one occasion I was invited to a
wedding in their quarter. At evening I was
introduced to a company, who were seated in a
square, on a broad terrace, having before thein
trays containing burnt almonds, pistachio nuts,
and confectionary, and flasks of arraclc, which
they drank from small cups, i11 such immo-
derate quantities that I expected t o see them
lose their senses; but it inerely appeared to
have the effect of exciting theill. The seat of
honour was kept for the briclegrooin, a most
uninteresting youth, who, looliii~gvery much
ashamed of l~imself, entered with a boy on
either hand singing a discordant epithalamium,
and when he had taken his plttce next to his
father at thc head, the company severally coin-
plirnented him. Meat and broth was then
brought in, and when it had beell partalcen
of, health was wished to the bridegroom and
to his fitthel; the host, bumpers of arrack
were tossed down, and some of the company
got up one after another, and danced a ridi-
culous sort of pas sezcl. It was ncxt proposed
 SACRED NELOPIES. 307
to sing, and, some of the best performers being
called upo11, sang from the Psal~llsof David
vely sweetly. T h e audience were frequently
moved to tears, and once, when a young mall
sang a psalm, which by Melldee Beg's transla-
tion I knew to be that (even ill our language)
most beautiful one, " By the rivers of Babylon
there we sat down, yea, we wept when we
remembered Zion," they sobbed aloud. They
were all so~~iewhat under the influence of tl~eir
potations, but men in their situation must ever
be affected by the beautiful words of the
Psalmist, and it was easy to believe their grief
sincere. I n the height of the entertainmei~t,
came a loud knocking at tlie door. In the
early part of the evening the darogha* had
sent for some arrack, for medicine, but as he
required a large dose, it was refused him. H e
therefore now sent Iiis myrmidons to put a
stop to what he called the disturbance in their
quarter, as it was the night of a Mohum-
mudail festival. A little money sent the officers
away, and, shortly after, the bride being brougl~t
t o the house with music and torches, and a
* Police-mnster.-Sucll of the faithful as require spirituous
liquor for mcdiciilc must make their wants Itnow11 to thc
daroglia, who will procure it for them. All jolly f~llowsin
a city are coilsequently on very good terms with that officer.
x2
 VISIT THE CALENTER'S BROTIIER. 309
good, abused me so heartily that I was in-
clined to wish his tongue in the condition of
his other members.
The Calenter* of the city also, hearing of my
skill, sent to request that I would visit him.
I went with the Syud, for curiosity's salte, and
was introduced to a striltingly handsome and
gentleman-like man, who was seated on a small
raised wooden platform, in the centre of a nice
garden. H e invited us to mount upon the
platform and sit beside him, and then, after the
customary co~npliments, said that he had re-
quested my attendance 011 account of his young
brother, who had for some years been bed-
ridden, and he hinted that nothing would be
thought extravagant to reward a cure. The
brother was brought in, carried in a servant's
arms, a delicate, emaciated boy, wllose case ap-
parently would have been considered hopeless
by a real physician ; it was painful to be obliged
to say that I could do nothing for him, and
I had some difficulty in persuading the Calen-
ter that the report of my skill had gone abroad
in consequence of a slight accidental cure.
* The Calenter of n city is a magistrate in rank next to
the Vuzeer, w h o hns the surveilIance of all the pxrishes of
the city.
VISIT OF TI-IE MEEltZA.
 a n d had come illto his possession years ago by
tlie strangest chance. I think the title of the
work was Cook's Surgery, b u t it would have
been cruel to have destroyed so innocent an
illusion, and as the anatomical plates showed
it to be a work up011 hick?)zz6t,* I read a
few lines out sonorously, giving a slight ex-
planation of the plates, and not only satisfied
our visiter of the antiquity and value of his
book, but was rewwded with a murlnur of
approbation at my skill in the dead languages.
A s I had displayed so much knowledge, it was
ilecessary to give our visiter an opportunity of
exhibiting his, and some learned no things were
discussed, on which the Meerza's opinions were
bowed t o as the best: encouraged by which,
he spoke at length, touching slightly on a11 the
sciences, to show his acquaintance with them,
and delivering himself of sundry axioms, which
gave his speech a pretei~sionof great depth.
We paid him the compliment of listening with
every attention, and his followers had the air of
Being wrapped in wonder a t the extent of his
acquirements, .
" And s(i1 tlthey gazed, and still the wonder grew,
That one small head could carry all he knew."
The Meerza begged to see my curiosities,
" penknives, mathematical instruments, or any

" Scieace.
812 MEDICAL ZLNOWLEDGE IN MESI-IED.

thing European and stmnge." Some patent

matches, which ignited b y pressure, excited
the highest astonishn~entin the whole party,
and the Meerza vowed he would not rest till
he had made similar ones. This led us into a
discourse about cl~emistry, in the course of
which our visiter appealed to a grave person
on his right, who, having knowledge enough
to separate ore from earth, had set up for a
chemist and doctol; and, report said, had tried
some ulllucky experime~~ts in the latter capa-
city. This gentleman was inquisitive about a
medicine which he understood I possessed, by
smelling which a sick man might be greatly
restored, and I then recognised him as the
leech who had snt at the bed of my patient,
but whom P had missed when I had been
fortunate enough to restore the lad to his
senses. The phial was handed to him, and he
unguardedly took a sniff, which nearly de-
stroyed the composure of his countenance ; but
it was beneath his dignity to appear disturbed,
so, giving t h e salt to the Meerza with an as-
snmed air of nonchulccnce, he decided that: the
contents were-campllor with a dash of lemon.
W e offered our visiters tea and sweetn~eats,
and when M e e ~ z aAbdool Jowaut rose to take
away his presence, walked with him to the
 XAWAUB MEI-IDEE ALLEE KHAN. 813
outer door of our dwelling, declaring tllat our
heads had been raised, and we honoured by his
visit, and hopillg t h a t his condesceiisiol~lnigllt
not diminish ; and he, b y Way of expressing
])is sense of our civilities, turned round a t part-
ing, and said, in t h e most public manner, that,
for leaTning and good breeding, neither the
French nor any other F r a n k nation were
worthy of coinparison with the English.
Some days s ~ ~ b s e q u e ntot tllis, we received
notification of another intended visit from his
highness the Nawaub Mehdee Allee Khan (son to
Saadut Auee IChan, t h e late Icing of Luclcl~ow),
who was on his travels through Mol~umrnudan
holy land. Hearing of m y being in the city, he
sent a very polite message, to say that it would
give him pleasure to know ally Englishman,
and that 11e would call on us; but we deter-
mined that it wozlld be proper to pay 11im tile
compliment of aclrilowledging his rank, and
SO,with a civil r e t u r n to his. message, sent an
intimation of our intention to render the first
visit.
TVe went the n e x t day, and had an inter-
view with this nobleinan, who was tmvfllillg
qllite e?L seignezc~,w i t h a s ~ l i t composed
e cl,iefly
of Indians. mTe tallied of thc palaces of ~ , ~ ~ ~ l ~ -
I l 0 ~ nild
' Cdclltta, allcl of tllc r o ~ l l ~ , a n ~poolu
ti~~]~
314 VISIT TO A TRAVELLING NAFVAUB.

appearance of Persian cities with those of India, I

and delighted the Nawaub's attendants, who 1
i
had met with little sympathy on their travels,
by sighing for tlie water and trees of Hiadoos-
tA11, where a man might rest where he would
on a journey, and travel securely with gold in
his hand. I t was pleasing to meet, in a strange
land with people ainong wllon~some years of
illy life had been spent, and wit11 whose lan-
gnage and manners I was familiar; and we sat
with them some time. Two mornings after,
when we were expecting a visit from the
Nawaub, came his head attendant, accoutred
for travel, to apologize for his lod's being
unable to see us, as he had resolved to take
advantage of the immediate departure of a
large body of return pilgrims, to travel on to
Telira~~n.Thi? Icafilal~was said t o consist of
near two thousand persons, and there was good
prosiect of safety in travelling with it, but
some days after its departure, came a .rumour
of its having been taken by the Toorlrmuns :
the next party who came in from the west con-
firmed the report, and we learned that the
Toorkmuns had fallen upoil the travellers one
morning at dawn, near Abbassabad, killed a,
few, and carried off the majorityinto the desert,
among them our friend the Nawaub. On hearing
 NAWAUB CAPTURED BY T I l E TOORKMUNS. 315
this, I caused the Sy~zdto write to N~ljuffAllee
Khan, the border Icoord chief, saying who the
Nawaub was, and expressing my coilviction
that the English ambassador at Tehraun would
arrange liis higl~ness'sransom. After arriving
in India, I heard that the Nawaub's release
had been effected, though on what terms I
could not learn.
The -capture of so large a lcafilah put the
pilgrims upon the qz~ivive ;a small part,y of
Toorla were the oilly travellers who left; the
city for inany days, and all sorts of reports were
current about the dangers of the road. One
morning there was great congratulation in
Meshed, a swolleii and blackened Toork-
mun's head being stuck upoil a loilg spear,
and paraded in hideous triumph through the
streets, escorted by the boys and idlers of the
place. This was tlie head of an unlucky Ser-
rux Toorkmun, who, i t did not appear how,
had let llirnself be killed; but it was a hydra
head, for as inany Toorltmuns were made to
spring from it as would have sufilioed to take
the city. The next day a report was prevalent
that a large body of Toorkmuns, having de-
scended upon a party of pilgrims, had met with
a complete repulse; fifty heads and as many
prisoners were being brought in, and the nurn-
 316'Lz:-x: -'"? FALS.E REPORTS.

ber of the dogs killed had not bee11 counted :

the report was surely true-a poyal chupper,*
clia~.gedwith letters to the Prince, had seen
t l ~ cbodies lying near the road, and had passed
the victorious pilgrims and their prisoners.
F o r two days the city was kept in slxspense :
some varied the reports, -a few experienced
persons disbelieved them, a t the risk of being
thought heretics,-and those who feared t o
comlllit tl~emselves by a hasty opiuion, said
tllat, please God, whatever had been done was
the work of tlie blessed Inlaurn Xeza. As the
pilgrii-ns neared the city the accounts of their
victory became gl-aclually more modest, so that,
when they were a stage distant, they got only
credit for having had a fight. A t last the mur-
der was out: no Toorlrmui~shad been seen,
but at iVJuzzeenaun alarm of Too~lcmunshad
been given one night, and a man of the place
had been caught in the act of stealing a liorse
from the caravansera, and brougl~t on two
stages, when his friends followed and begged
hiin off, If the robber had been brought to
Meshed, he surely would have been sacrificed
to the manes of tlie story.
'I I t is like most Meshed stories," said our
friend Rleerzt~Abdool 3owaut ; I, from the
cL
long habit of hearing them, call always guess
at their truth :-there are three places in the *

city froin whence estraordinary news is circu-

lated, and an experienced i~~habitant call tell by
the smack of a story from which of the quar-
ters it comes. The first is the cell of MoollB
Sh~lmsheh,a Moojetel~eid, who resides in the
sahn, where the mooll&sassemble to gossip, and
report what was said or hinted at t l ~ eVuzeer's
levee, &c. MoollB Shuinsheh is a prodigy ; he
laas no teeth, yet cracks nuts and eats raw peas,
and, not being overburthened with riches,
though a religious good man, and a deep theo-
logist, (shame to the nlen of Meslled that it
should be so,) he is content to have a levee of
those who will bring their own tobacco, and
give him a whiff of i t occasionally. The Moo-
jeteheid is very short-sighted, and sits in his
cell, holding a book close to his eyes, or making
a comlnentary from it into one of many large
tomes that are piled on a dusty shelf; hearing
all that is said, and chiming in wllcn there is
a necessity for correcting an assertion; and,
knowing something about what is passing, he
is able to soften down the least cl-edible parts of
a story, and to send it out with a c010ur of
probability.
" The second quarter for news, is the mosque
 318 THE VUZEER A MAN OF BUSINESS.

a t the foot of the golden minaret ;-a cool place,

where iced water is to be had for nothing, and
where a calleooil is always handing about.
A n d the tbird, is a spice-shop, the owner of
which is such a pleasant fellow, and so liberal
of his pipe, that h e has always a crowd of news-
mongers round his shop ; and he so wins upon
them by his witty conversation that few go
away witllout recollecting a want of ' dye for
the beard' or ' spice for the house.' The least
founded and nlost extravagant reports may be
generally traced t o the Attar's shop."
VVe went occasionally of a lnoriling to the
Vuzeer's, and generally found 11im seated in a
garden, at the head of one of two long slips of
carpet, occupicd by those who had the e.~zt~&c,
- or who were admitted on business, and a t the
foot of which stood those whose rank did not
entitle thein to sit. The great man transacted
every sort of busii?ess, dictated to the secretary
who sat 012 his rigllt, lent an ear to the favour-
ed persons of the assembly, or listened to a
suitor's request. One morning wheii we were
there, he was persuading a young IC11an to go
on some service, who made many objections,
and at last said, " I have no horse."-66 W e will
provide you," said the minister ; and, sending for
a merchant who was in readiness outside, he
 MOOLLA YOUSSUP. 319
had two or three horses in, and chaffered for
one, which lic presented to the youth. " Now
therc is your horse, his lilte is not in Meshed;
p u t on your shulwars, and go under God's pro-
tection ; we will see you at c l ~ o ~ ~ s h . " *I-Iave
--~~
you such horses as that in Frang?" aslted
the Vuzeer ; " oh ! by the by, here is MoollA
Youssuf,-Moollb Uonssuf llas been to Hind,
and can talk English." A fair arid stout-look-
iilg inan alluded to, who sat at an honourable
distance from the Vuzeer, leaned forwarcl, and
said, " Goocl ewening, Saare ;" which, consider-
i n g that it was broad morning, did not speak
well for his knowledge of my lai~guage,and he
soon gave up his attempt to talk in it. This
Moollk Youssuf, we were assured, when at
Bombay, was offered no less than 50,000 to-
mauns if lle would marry a Feringee wife and
become a Cllristian. The story was his own,
and he lived in a great measure upon it ; for
who could do otherwise than venerate a inail
who had given up so much for his faith?
The next thing that the Vuzeer did nras to
eat a tray of peaches, talking at intervals to
those nearest to him, or dictating a few words to
his scribe. After some time, a suitor, who 11ad
sat on his heels at the bottom of the carpet till
BrenLhst-time.
in a loud under-tone to each other, praised him
as the prince of vuzeers, so affable and impar-
tial, and such an Aristotle in the way of
business.
From the time of our arrival at Meshed
there had been ruinours of wars and changes,
and something was evidently going forward,
though what nobody exactly knew. Some
were of opinion that it was intended to make
I<horasssun independent ; others, that Reza
Rouli IChan, the ICoord chief, was about to set
himself up as king of it, and every thing that
the Vuzeer did or said was made a subject of
speculation. On a sudden came news that Yar
M o h ~ ~ m m uKhan,
d generalissimo to Shah ICam-'
raun, was on his n~archfrom Heraut with six -
thousand men and some guns, and that Reza
ICouli IChm, with all his men and a portion of
the other I<oord chief's* troops, was close to
the city. This double movement puzzled the
deepest speculators, and they were candid
enough to confess that they could not guess
what was to happen. IVhen Reza ICouli I<han
mine to Meshed, the Prince sent liis own
charger with the royal caparisons, that the chief
might ride in with honour ; and, two days after,
the Prince and the Vuzeer went guests to his
* Nujuff Allee Khan.
VOL. I. Y
322 CROWDED CITY. .

camp. I n the course of the week came the

Aff'haun army from Heraut, and the city was
so filled by the additional influx of the soldiers
of both forces that sometimes there was scarcely
a passage through the main street.
Early in the morning the dill of this crowded
city would be quite hushed ; a few of the drug-
gists' shops only being open, for the conveni-
ence of those who might want dye for their
beards, and the slippers of such persons sounded
as they hurried across the sahn 011 their way t o
the baths. Two hours afterwards the scene had
changed; the shops were all open, and the
~ n a n ytrades busily carried on, and fruits and
vegetables, brought in from the villages, were
piled in baskets along the bazaar, which was
crowded with purchasers. Housel~oldersand
servants, laden with the day's provision, were
repairing to their several homes; the mooll$s
were astir, and occasionally a doctor of high
degree would sweep by with his turbaned
train of satellites, on his way to lecture ill a
medressa : while often might be heard the
joyous sulawnat of approaching pilgrims, who
would press through the city-gate into the
broad boulevard -a dense troop of soiled and
jaded travellers -and presently disperse to seek
lodging, in order that they might repair to the
 CIIANT OF TIIE MUEZZINS. 328
baths and perform tlleir ablutions, so as to visit
the holy shrine at t l ~ eblessed hour of evening
prayer."
During the heat of the day the streets were
nearly deserted, but the stillness of noon was
broken by the loud and solemn chant of the
nluezzins, calling from the high minarets to
sum~nonthe faithful to prayer :' Ull8ho Uk-
bur ! Ullaho Ulcbur ! Ull&ho Ukbur ! UllAho
Ukbur !U s l ~ u d oun L%Ill2 h u Illill~ho!-
Ushudo unnu Mohumlnudun Rusool Oo11611e :
SullullAho ulcil~ewu Aleehee w u Aleehee TVO
sullum !-Ushudo unnu Umeer ul Bloomineen
Ulleey un wullee OoilAh .-Hey ya ululssulA11 !
-Heyya alulfulAh !-Heyya ul%kllhir il umul !
-Ull&l~o Ukbur !-Ullilio Ukbur !-La Illa
hu Illullaho ! j- W e ascended' the golden mi-
* Of the five times of prayer the hours of early morn and
even are the most efficacious. Then the angel Ahl~ter goes
the rounds of '' the faitllful," and says Ameen to their pray-
ers, to whicll all the heavens are open-up to the throne of
the Most High.
+ Each twice. Translation-God is supreme !-I bear
witness that there is no god but God!-I bear witness that
Mohummud is the Apostle of God: May the mercy and
peace of Ullah be upon him and his family 1-1 bear witness
that the Commander of tlie Faithful, Allee, is the friend of
God!-Come to prayers I Come to tlie refiige! Come to
the meritorious action ! (of prayer)-God is Supreme I-
There is no god but God I
Y 2
324 VISITERS TO TI-IE BOULEVARD.

naret one noon, the muezzin permitting us on

condition that we should cry the Azbn. TVhen,
however, we got to the balcony round the top,
it was evident that our unpractised lungs
would never reach c' the faithful " pigmies be-
low, and, with an adroit colnpliment to the
voice of the muezzin, my friend got us ex-
cused from the condition. From this height we
had a complete view of the city and the coun-
try round, and loolred directly into the nearest
houses.
I n the afternoon, the boulevard would be
thronged again, with natives from all parts of
the East: Affgl~auntroopers, in their loose
and slovenly yet picturesque dresses, Arabs,
Iloords, Toorks, and a few Oosbegs or Indians,
with pilgrims from all the provinces of IrBn,
the staid, long-bearded Shirauzee, and the fop
of Isphahaun, priests, merchants, peasants, and
fakeers, without end.
The resident shoplreepers, still intent upon
profit, sat busily worlring, 01; if their occupa-
tion admitted it, chatting with those who, with
a guilloclr to repair, or a boot or bridle to mend,
lounged at their boards. Other residents, men,
or veiled women, moved through the crowd
with baskets of fresh and stale bread,* or sat in
* Stale bread is sold at a reduced price.
 LIVELY SCENE. 325
convenient places to sell it ; and at the corners
of thoroughfares were posted coolrs with port-
able kitchens, who sang out tempting invita-
tions to the passers-by, to taste their kabobs and
coloured pilaus.
A goldsmith, who lived within the sanc-
tuary, close to the high gate of the sahn,
allowed me to sit at his window of an after-
noon to watch the crowd below, and a more
striking or lively scene could hardly have
been looked upon. About the gate were
booths, behind which sat venders of trinkets,
and turquoises, of which every pilgrim at least
carries away one, as a memento of the c c holy
city ;" t1.1e women of the town, veiled from the
crown of the head to the foot, and looliing
out from a slip of net,work across their eyes,
offered for sale slrull-caps and other articles of
clothing, their manufacture : there was a con-
stant hurry of feet to and from the sahn, under
the high archway : falceers, with their badges
(goat, deer, or leopard skins,) slung on their
backs, lounged about, calling loudly on the naine
of the Deity of Mol~umlnudand Allee; and
occasionally a crowd would gather round a
story-teller, to hear a tale of Haroon a1 Rasheed,
or Shah Abbas the Great, or perhaps a humor-
ous satire on the reigning tribe, tbe Cujjers. At
sions, they would themselves condescend to pro-
fess. Some Affghauns were at noon-prayer in
the Gowhcr Shaud mosque, when an old Sheah
Moollii, shocked at a form of devotion dif-
ferent from bis own, lamented, with a groan,
that men calling themselves Mooselmauns,
should pray in such fasbion. This produced
an angry retort, and probably no compliment
to the first Caliphs ; a crowd of either party
collected, swords were drawn, and, though no
lives were lost, blood was spilt.
The scandal of this had not subsided, when
another irritating circumstance occurred. A
Persian lad, who had been given by his father
to an Affghaun creditor as a servitol; for money
owing, ran froin the camp to the chief piest of
the city, protesting that he would not serve a
man wbo vilified his religion marly times in
a day, and requesting his interference. This
was made a party business of by the Affgl~auns,
who, seeing that the feelings of the towi~smen
were against them, became open in their abuse,
talked of themselves to as many slaves
as they wanted ; some, indeed, of killing all Me-
shed << $ la Timour,"to the very cats : on which
the authorities took the matter up, causecl the
Affghaun general to sLzmmon his men to camp,
md ordered suc1.1as did not go to be ejcctcd
 CHAPTER XVI.

Hatred of the Sects of the Sheahs and Soonnees.--Moollh

Mohummud.-Reflections on the meana of converting the
Persians to Christianity. -March of the Troops against
the Toorkmuns.--Cholera Morbus at Tabreez.-Illness of
the Syud.-Rogueries of Ameer Al1ee.-His pretensions
to Alchemy.-Vil.lany of his Wife.-Departure of Aga
Mohummurl Caussim.-Cemeterics of Meshed.

TIIE extreme ill-will that exists between

Sbeahs and Soonnees, to be properly under-
stood, must be observed in countries where
licence is given to the expression of it. A re-
sidence of four years in India had not taught
me the bitter hatred which the two sects have
for each other; for there an Englishmen mixes
too little with the natives to know much about
their real feelings, and the strong a n n of autho-
rity interposes .to prevent them from making
open war upon each other, not to say that the
Indo-Mooselmauns are half Ilindoos ; b u t at
Meshed, where tlie Sheahs, being on their own
ground, were able to display the enmity which
 330 RIVAL SECTS.

Soonnees never disguise-I saw t h e feeling in

its full force. The chief outward difference
between Soonnees and Sheahs is, t h a t for-
mer wash from the tips of the fingers t~ t h ~
elbow, and the latter from the elbow t o t h e
tips of the fingers : the Sheahs curse t h e three
first Caliphs througl~all their professors ; a n d
the Sooilnees da~nll the Sheahs, e n nzusse, as
schismatics and heretics, nay, as idolaters even,
because they carry about with them small cakes
of the earth of ICerbolah, to whic11 t h e y press
their foreheads when praying. But from these
cliief sects have sprung many others (seventy-
two" were counted inany years ago), a n d t h e y
are all so bitter against each other, that t h e y
are doing more to weaken their religion t h a n
its professed enemies could hope to effect. As
I was much in the society of Sheahs at Aaesl:ed,
I had frequent opportunities of hearing their
sentiments. The Syud, having lived at Meshed
some years before, had inany friends ; a n d our
circle of acquaintance was agreeably increased
* Mohummud predicted that seventy-two sects should
branch from the root that h e had planted, but that the
follo~versof one of these only should attain palsadise. Tlle
IIuildees mention this as an apple of discord a m o n g t h e
various parties into wllich tlle Mol~ummudanshave divided
themselves.
 VISIT FROM MOOLLA MOHUMMUD. 331
by the arrival of Aukhoond-zadeh MoollA
Mohummud, a Sheah doctor of good repute,
who had come up' from Heraut cc to tell his
beads at Saint Reza's altar," and say a btelleh
over his father, whose remains lay buried in tlze
sahn. Aulthoond inay be translated c6Do~ninie,"
and, as MoollA Mohummud's father was a man
of some fame, he had a pride in being called
Aukhoond-zadeh, or the son of the dominie.
W i t h him came several mooll$s of inferior de-
gree, who, in a great measure, lived upon him,
and whose duty it was to applaud his sayings,
loolc after his slippers, and not speak when he
had a inind to be silent. Attracted by the
Syud's learning and pleasant converse, MoolllZ
Mol~ummudwas a daily visiter at our house-
a welcon~eguest, for he was a man of consider-
able information, and we benefited much by
his friendship. I remember having been
seated with him and a lwge party one day,
when the conversatioll turned upon the martyr-
dom that a Sheah was obliged to endure when
travelling in a Soonnee country. " There is
one comfort," said a R$ooll&EIossein (who had
come up from Heraut with the Aulrhoond-
zadeh), rubbing his hands with an air of much
satisfaction, cc there is one comfort -they will
all go to hell." Insl~ctIIah!-was ecl~oedround
 BEHAVIOUR OF THE PEOPLE. 333
s u i t them to carry their establishments about
with them. Mooll%Mohummud, who had left
three wives a t Heraut, talked seriously of taking
a fourth, pro tempore, when he came to Me-
shed, and was, I know, only deterred from the
a c t by a consideration of the expense which
would attend it. Both sects agree that the
prophet sanctioned the cnstom, but the Soon-
nees say that the Caliph Omar forbad it. The
Sheahs, at no time inclined to take the Caliph
as authority, scoff at an injunction which lnili-
tates against so pleasurable an indulgence, and
ask what dog was CL Omar !" that he should
presume to correct the inandate of the blessed
Prophet ?
F o r my own part, I experienced no ill usage
a t the hands of the people of Meshed. I daily
took my road through the sahn, and walked in
all parts of the city ; and, if I was occasionally
noticed, I never was in the slightest degree
insulted. I doubt not that if any fanatic had
met me within the sanctuary, he would have
taken umbrage at my presumption, and have
raised a cry against me ; but, on t h e other hand,
I have inet men there, who, knowing me,
turned aside and pretended not to observe me.
Some few, who would have cntered into reli-
gions discussions, did not press me beyond
 TRANSLATION OF THE SCRIPTURES, 335
/

before the purity and charity of the Gospel

precepts; and our endeavours should be to
impart to these people the doctrines of sound
reason and logic, and lead them to the com-
parison : but to convert the natives of Persia
by our Scripture, we should give them every
incitement to read it, and not only translate
from the original, so as to preserve the simila-
rity of idiom whicli runs tl~roughall Eastern
languages, but not insist upon a strictly literal
translation, when, fully preserving the sense,
we can express a sentence more beautifully.
Except the Arabs, no people are more suscep-
tible of the beauties of language than are t l ~ e
Persians, and they wilI not read what is written
in a hard style. I humbly conceive that, to
obtain a c o ~ ~ e translation
ct of the Old Testa-
ment, we should get the assistance of a Persian
Jew.. The descendants of Israel, who live i n
Iran, retain their own language, and some of
their inooll~snot only acquire a classical Irnow-
ledge of Persian but become skilled in Arabic ;
and one of these would have a beart in tlle
worlr, which no Mohummudail assistant well
can. I think also that we might look to the
theological writings of the Mollurnmudans for
a style of translation. During the Mohurrum
at Meshed, the lecturers read from an Arabic
 836 TI-IX BOOR OF TIlE ADORER.

work passages which appeared greatly t o affect

the Ijnultitude. The book was composed by
Hossein's son, Allee Awsut, Zein-ul Aubideen ;
it is Sahifa Sajjadea,"-" T h e Book
of the Adorer," a name by which A l l e e Awsut
was designated, " or Sahifa ICAmila," the full
or perfect book. It is written very much i n
the style of the Psalms of David, c o ~ ~ s i s t i aofg
lamentstion for sins, adoration of God, and
entreaties for EIis mercy; and doubtless many
idioms and expressions might be borrowed
from it to suit a translation of o u r Psalmist's
verses.
M y digressions have almost made me forget
Meshed, t o which I nlust now r e t u r n . T h e
reason of the troops coming from ICIoordistnun
and Heraut was not known, untjl Meerza
A$ousa, after sundry interviews with t h e chiefs
of both armies, went to their camp, a n d march-
ed with them into the desert t o fight the
Toorkmuns. I t was on the 14th of August
that they marched: up to this date we Irad
received no letters from our friends ; w e had
run into debt, and began seriously t o feel the
evil of being without money in a strange
country. T o add to our perplexity, Meshed-e-
Nurouz all of a sudden took a wild freak, got
acquainted with some jolly Topchees in the
 BAD NEWS PROM TEHRAUN. 337
Prjnce's service, married a temporary wife, and
ran in debt tliirty toinauns. His next step was
to be insolent, but, as dismissing him would
have been bringing all his creditors at once
upon us, we bore wit11 his impertinences ;
indeed, remembering how well he had behaved
to us in the desert, we became good friends
again before we parted, though we had his debts
to pay.
We anxiously watched the arrival of pilgrims
from the west, but not one of them brought
us news: the only intelligence that we could
obtain concerning the Englis'tl gentlemen of
tlie mission was given us by a Tabreez pilgrim,
who said that, when on the point of leaving
Tellraun, he had received a letter froljn his
home, mentioning that the British envoy and
other English gentlemen at Tabreez, with
many Persians, had fallen victims t o the
cholera morbus. The few merchants who had
held out hopes of assistance to us were decided
by this report not to lend us any money; alld,
in addition to the melanclloly reflection that
t l ~ eaccounts of friends from whom I had re-
ceived so much kindness might be true, as
indeed they proved to be, I had the misery
of seeing my coinpanion fall so dangerously
ill that for some days I despaired of his life.
VOL. I. z
338 ILLNESS OF MY COMI'ANION.

Constai~tworry at first made him unwell, and,

in the conceit that he was Halccenn e11ougIi to
prescribe for himself, h e swallowed a clun~~tity
of calorncl, went to the hot bat11 to sweat it in,
a i d then, by way of fartllcr assisting its sopcra-
tioil, tool: so nlaily lniscals of blood frotn his
arm that the barber called in to opcrnte en-
treated hiin to desist, fearing allpal-ently lest
he sllould be concerned i n mai~slaughtcr. Tiic
coi~seqL1enceof this self-treatment was tliat he
salivated himself, lost t h e use of his teeth, and
became so weak that h e c o ~ ~ lddo little else
than lie in a corner of our room and groan.
Meerzn, Abilool J o ~ r a u most
t kindly took him
o u t to his country-liousc, arid in a few clays
11;s benlth was restored ; but he cost me some
ailxions llours, for I had a re:tl frientlsliip for
him, an(i tlle prospect of being left alone and
pciiniless at; Mcsliecl was a very ~lnclailclioly
011e.
W e received l~luclikindness from the JCTVS.
Tllcy could not lelld us thc money we rcq~xircil,
but they actvanccd us small lo:1ns, :uiri s~rvccl
us in Illany otl~erways, and frolri tl~clllwe
discovcrcd t l ~ ecllicf rcnson wliy no o11c ~vould
accept illy bill L I ~ ) O I the
~ elivoy. A. rascal
Syud, ~lametl.Azllccr ~ l l l c c ,a rmtivc? of I-Iin-
doostku, ~vlloin 'his yotst11 Ililil S C ~ V CJJor~1
~
 Lake, and who, I believe, bad a t t a c h e d himself
to the suite of Sjr John Jfalcolm on One of
the occasions of that officer's comil2g ambassa-
dor to I'el'sia, had induced s o m e credulous
persons at B/Heshed to believe him a spy in t h e
regular pay of the British govenlment, a n d by
giving, in pretended confidence, what he called
promissory notes on the envoy at T e h r a u n , had
succeeded in raising several s u m s of cash. A
money-changer brougl~tlne o n e of his notes, a
which was a mere scrawl, written in imitation
of an English note of hand, and which was
all the security that he had for two hundred
tomauns. I told the man t h a t it was a gross .
forgery, biit lie was dupe enough t o listen rather
to his roguish debtor, who assured him, as we
learned from a Jew confidant, t h a t I was an
impostor- an Armenian, he believed ; a t any
rate one who, wanting to d r a w a bill myself,
felt it necessary to declare his invalid, because
I could not write one like it.
This Ameer Allee was p r o b a b l y as perfect;
a rogue as ever practised. Ile commenced his
career of villany by nearly succeeding in steal-
ing a fortune froin Saadtlt Allee Khan, t h e
king of Lucknow, and, escaping f r o m India,
inade his way overland to Istin, w h e r e he lived
a life, the acts of wllich, if t h e y c o u l d be faith-
a2
 4 0 INPATUhTION OF THE MESHEDEES.

fully collected, ~vould probably form a. more

extraordinary histoq~than the author of Gil
Blas could have imagined. Meshed was his
den, and from it he sallied out at seasons to
rob the provinces far and near, seldom failing
to return with booty, though he soinetinles ran
great risks. I'ie considered no one either above
or beneath his skill, using every meails to get
money ; but his never-failing resource with all
classes was, pretending to know the secret of
the philosopher's stone.
1 When we look back to the illfatlintion with
which the alchemists of comparatively en-
lightened times pursued this chimera, we need
not be astonished at the weakness of Oriental
peopIe concerning tlie ups size urte wliicli was
born among them. The eastern alchemists of
the present day hold, I believe, nearly tile con-
ceits which possessed t h e l~hilosophersof the
European world: saying that, of the minerals
which are formed in the earth, some arc ma-
1;ured quickly, while others require tiinc to be
perfected, and arg~lingthence that since by art
we can at o ~ ~ bring
c c certain minc~.als,such as
salt, alum, &c, to perfectio~i,by art wc should
be also able to llnsteli the mntarity of others,
such as metals ; tliough, touolli~lg the actual
process and tho time rccluisitc, tlicy are as
 VILLAINY OF AMEER ALLEE'S WIFE. 341
much in the dark as were the sages of the
thirteenth century. Where there is. a disposi-
tion to believe in more than the possibility of
the discovery of the grand secret, artful men
do not find it difficult to get dupes, and it was
g fact well known by many, that this same
Ameer Allee, having lived for years on terms
of entire intimacy with one who knew all his
tricks, was yet able to persuade him that he
really had found out the secret, which he would
share with him for old acquaintance salre, and
obtained from him two hundred tomauns with
which to commence operations.
T h e natives of IIindoostAn are supposed to
have attained a greater knowledge of the art
than other people, and Aineer Allee's colour
aided him in many an imposition. H e might
have been rich had he not been obliged to pur-
chase the silence of some who watched him, and
had he not been, as many rogues are, prodigal of
other folk's money. H e had a wife, whom lie
had perfected in villany, but she had one virtue,
that of being devoted to him : in some of his
worst scrapes she had given herself a i d children
in hostage for him, or begged his relet~se,and,
when she had worn out a good name in his
service, she commenced his system in the
female world. I n a good cause sucli an at-
I CEMETEltIES IN MESHED. 343
that, but if you had seen the Noorbaran ! the
Noorbaran Aga !" The c6 Noorbar&n," or the
shower of light, is the rain which falls in
spring, wlleil the sun, brealring through the
light clouds, causes the large drops to glitter
like diamonds: the ilatives of Ir$n say that i t
falls most 011 holy places, and hold u p their
palms, t o catch the drops aiid wet their beards
with them. Lookiilg thr0~1gl1the sparlcli~lg
shower at the golden dome, when the sun is
upon it, this poetically superstitious people are
struck with the increased effect, and utter
ejaculations of praise for what they deem a
special mark of Heaven's favour upon their
saint,
The cemetery just alluded to was the largest
of several that occupy open spaces within
the city, tlie proprietors of which reap great
profits by letting out graves for the bodies
of those who are brought from aU parts to be
deposited in holy ground. As it was in a
retired quarter, I used generally to take my
way through it, witl~outfear of exciting the
wrath of the Meshedees by defiling the graves
of their fathers. The tombs were made of
heavy slabs of black or white coarse granite,
which is quarried iiz the neighbourhood; and
011 many of them, besides verses of the Borkn,
344 , VISITERS TO TIIE TORfnS,
were sculptmed devices which sllowed lvllnt
had been the condition of the deceased. The
resting-place of a inoollA might be known by
a book or an astrolabe ; that of a barber or a
tailor by a razor or a pair of sliears; and a
young cedar tree carved on n tomb was the
affecting sign of orie C L I ~off i n the flo~verof
youth. Early in the morning, figures might
be seen seated on the tombs ; geilernlly veiled
women, who came to wecp : ~ tthe graves of
depa~tedfriends ; a custom which illustrntes
a verse in the elevent11 chapter of St. John,
when the Jews, seeing Mary rise hastily and go
out, said, cc She goeth unto the gravc to weep
there." Soine sat there rending the ICordrl,
relations of dcccased persons, or moollds, their
proxies; and sometitnes Itrere seen a party of
the latter gentry in a sinall tent pitclicci aver
a grave, engaged to remain there n certain
number of days to say rrlnsses for the son1 of
the dead. On Thursday evcrliilgs crowcls
would coine to t11e buryiiig-groulld, to say a
fAtelieh for all Inell rlcpartcd in the ft~itli,
 MERCI-IANTS REFUSE RIY BILLS. 845

CI-IAPTER XVII.

DiRiculty of obtaining Money.-State of Trade.-Taxes on

-
Merc11anclise.-Imports ant1 Exports. Prices of Provi-
sions, Camels, and I-Iorses. - Climate. -Return of tlic
Allied Troops.-Ilistory of tllc Affg11nuns.-Shall Kam-
raun. - Application to tlie Vuzeer. - I-Iis Caution and
Apologies.- I-Iard 13argain wit11 Gliolnm Ileza. - Sup-
posecl Reasons of Mohummud Moolli's 1Cindnuss.-Pare-
well Visit to t h e Vuzeer.

OUR friend Moolli Mohummud the Auk-

hoond-zadeh, who laboured incessantly to serve
us, came one morning to say that he had beer1
talking to a merchaxlt, who was half disposed
to take my bill for goods, which we might sell
at a reduced rate for ready money in the bazaar.
When the Syud went accordingly to see this
trader, he said, that as he had never dealt with
Feringees, l ~ einust try a fcdZ in the ICorAi1, a
mode of divination similar to that of tlie
" Sortes Virgilianz," much pl-actised by tllc
natives of Iran. The man opened upon an un-
propitious verse, nild our hopes in that qui~rtcr
were at an e n d ; and this was rlot all our
346 TAKEN FOR A SPY.

annoyance, for in sonle cases it was llardly

disgllised froin the Syud that I wliS tho~lgllttul
impostor, alld Some had the iinplldenee t o us-
sert, on the other hand, that 1 was a spy, well
enough provided with wealth, b u t aflcctillg
poverty for security's sake. ccDon't you be-
lieve the Feringee," an acquaintance of ollrs
heard a inerchant say in a c a r a v m s ~ r ~ 'Ctllal;
;
tribe see a long way, and his poverty is n pre-
tence ; he will find means t o leave l\%eshcclwllell
the time comes." This reasoning seeined plau-
sible enough to many, and indeed it is quite
suited to the Persian system. We made tllc
acqnainta11ce of a Caubul merchant, who, when
the time of his departure from Meslled drctv
neal; actually wept in our presence, lamcntil~g
his poverty, and went about openly begging
small loans to help him on his journey, t h o ~ i g l ~
he had several hundred ducats sewccl up in
his clothes, as w e learned when, on :Lrl aftcr
occasion, he offered to lend us :noise tll:nl t l l r ~ ~
hundred. The state of society in tllis part
of the world renders such shifts a1uicls.t l l ~ c p s ~
sary, and men who act uprightly, ulld tell tllc
tl.llt11, if there be slay such, renlly deserve glqat
credit.
Colnmerce, under such discowagirlg circrLm-
stances, must ncccssnrily bc very zlllccrt;lill :
I
i
DISCOURAGING STATE OF TRADB. 347
traders both fear the unavoidable dangers of
the roads and want confidence in each other;
and tliough a few of the longest established
merchants of different cities l~avecorrespond-
ents in h'Peshed, they only trust each other t o
a limited extent, and few traders requiring a
sudden advance of money could obtain it
otherwise than at a ruinously exorbitant rate
of interest. Thus, for want of a regular under-
standing, many bring goods at a complete ven-
ture, and, if they do not suit the mal-ket, send
them east or west;, to any place at which there
is a chance of their selling. 1 have lcnowil tea
brought from Bokhara, and some months after-
wards sent back thither, because a large supply
had come in from the west, from Russia ; and
; a Yezd merchant assured me that once, after
trying more markets than one, he was fain t o
return home with his investment, so as to dis-
pose of it at least loss. The trade is not con-
fined to regular merchants, for pilgrims com-
inonly load a mule or two wit11 the produce
of the place they coine from, and purchase a t
Meshed articles which they tliilllr lilcely t o sell.
at a profit on tlle road or at their homes. T h e
actual extent of a trade which is thrown into
so many hands, and some of the details of
,which are so petty, could with difficulty be
348 TAXES O N ~lERC1IANL)ISE.

ascertained, but it appears to be I>y no llleans

inconsiderable. Tlle ycnr that we were at
Meshed, tile Prince had f:~mlcdthe import cus-
tolns for fifteen thousa~~cl toin:~~zns of Irfik, a l ~ d
the duties lcvicd witliin tllc city ul~oll :dl
warellouse and sllopl.;cel~el.s (inilecil up011 every
dealer, from tlic richcst mcrcl~nxitsto tllc per-
sons who solci bread in tlic strccts,) ibr twenty-
five thousalld more. T11c Ii~ttcrt:tx cvidcllccs
a thriving trade in tlic city, m d fro111 the I ' C L I ~ ~
of the custo~nsan idea may be forll~criof tlic
value of the imports.
Camels laden with gross commodities, sucll
as sugar, spices, i~icligo,k c . :trc c:tdl t;lscd tell
seals, or at tlle :Lvcrngc rate of five pcr cci~t.,
and lnules a i ~ d yaboos pay prol)ortio~~:~tcly.
More valuable mcrcliandisc, s~lcll as sli:l\t.ls,
cloths, &c. is t:lxod at the lcsser ~.:~tc of oric ill
forty, or two and a. 1l:tlf per cc~it. I t 111ay1)c
calculated that two-tliircls of t l i ~i~lipoi-f;~11s-
toills were levicd :tt tlic! r:itc of two :nld u 11;~11',
and onc-third at: tllc rate of iivc per ctb~lt., \yllicll
sul~posesrncrc1i:ulclisc lo tllc v:lluc 01' live! Iiu11..
tired tl~ous:l~lrltolilaulls to flavc I)c)t*~lsoltl or
cxcl~angeclat BIcsllocl, or to 1i:tvc 1):lss~~tl t.li~-~,~~~l~
that city 011 its way lo otllcr L,I~Iccs,;" L\ t Jle3llcd
 IMPORTS AND EXPORTS.

are fabricated silk velvets, silk pieces and ker-

chiefs of colours, satin, and checlced cotton cloths.
Foolad-e-khorassaun, or steel for the watered
sword blades which are in such repute, is pre-
pared for sale, but very few swords are made;
there were, I tl~inlr,only five shops in the city,
and their work did not appear particularly good.
A little shagreen is prepared, and liorse and ox
hides are also cured; f~lrthel; the turquoises
of Neshaboore are sold in great quantities at
Meshed, and it is a market for the produce of
ICoordistaun, 1amb and sheep skins, coarse felts
and carpets, and s~zcbprovisions as are sup-
plied by Elaut tribes.
From Yezd are bl.ougllt fine silk velvets,
plain and coloured sillts (in pieces and made
up), mixed silk and cotton cloths, cotton
cloths of all sorts and sizes, felts of several
qualities, shoes, and loaf sugar (made from In-
dian brown sugar that is had from Shi~auz).
These articles also find the^ way from Ispha-
haun and Cashan, and from the latter places are
brought gold and silver leaf, lrimcob, cotton
socks, pen and inlc cases, metal ttrays and lamps,
the gate ; but I was told that the money taken in this way
might be accounted for in the profits of those who rented
the customs from the prince, and that I might calculate the
fifteen thousand tomauns as 1 have done.
350 IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. 5

cooking pots, and other do,mestic utensils,

chiefly made from copper tinned over.
Proin Shirauz come dates, tobacco, lemon
juice, lacquer worlc, mats, and ivory hecl-taps ;
from ILerman shawls of all sorts, opium, cara-
way seeds, and henna, and bruised indigo leaf
for beard dye ; and chiefly from the south coine
the exports of Hindoostan -sugar and sugar-
candy, spices, musk, amber, carnelian and'other
stones, leathel; kirncob, India11 and a fewEnglish
chintzes, Indian fine cloths, and indigo.
The indigo that is brought froin India into
this country is of two qualities--that manu-
factured by the English, which is called neel-e-
feriuge, and a very inferior sort, made chiefly
in Sinde, but wbich is most used. The price
of English indigo, when we were at Meshed,
was eighty Ir&kreals for a Tabreez mun ; we
were told that it had been known to sell for
a hundred and a hundred and twenty, and, on
one or two occasions, even for a hundred and
fifty reals the lnun : there is not an extensive
demand for it, and it is only used t;o stain glass
and the enameled tiles which are used in Per-
sian buildings, for drawings, and perhaps to
dye the best silks. The second sort, or, as it is
called in India, the cutcha indigo, finds its way
into IChorassaun fro111 Sinde vid Iiandallar aiid
 IMPORTS BND EXPORTS. 351
Herant, and also (Ipresume froin the Punjaub)
by tlle way of Caubul and Bokhara. Its cost at
Meshed, when we were there, was twenty reals
for a Tabreez inun. A t Heraut it was nea~lya
fifth cheaper (but indeed the market was over-
stoclted), and we were told that i t was cheapel;
in proportion to the distauce, at Randahar.
T h e quality o$ this indigo is very bad, its coloiir
is dirty, and does not last long ; and, if profit is
to be made upon the drug in these countries, I
should think that it would be well to mai~ufac-
ture a sort soinetlling between this and the
English indigo, which bears so high a price
that it cannot be commonly used.
Sl~awls,saffron, and paper, are brought to
Meshed from Cashmere.and from Bokhara ; the
kafilahs bring yearly orie bundred and twenty
thousaild lamb-skias, camel-hair cloth, tea from
China direct or from Russia ; and, of the exports
from Russia into that country, much leatl-~e~
(coarse and fine), shagreea, broad cloths, silks,
satins, muslins, and coloured chintzes, nankeen,
and other light cloths, loaf-sugar, Russian glass
and China ware, metal trays, cast-iron pots, plain
and unwrought iron, copper, pewter, lalives,
scissors, locks, spectacles, needles, beads, and tin-
sel, looking-glasses, paper, and clamped boxes of
all sizes, gold embroidered stuffs, and cochineal.
 352 PROVISIONSI N MESHED..
The trade in tl.le latter articles by this route is,
1 imagine, decreasing, for now Russian manu-
factures are had chiefly froin the port of Reshdt.
They are of very indifferent quality, but ex-
tremely cheap, and appeared t o find ready sale.
Lastly, from Heraut are brought carpets of all
prices, sssafoetida, lead (from mines near Heraut),
cast-iron, saffron (from ICauin), pistachio nuts,
boorkhdnge (mastich), sheer-e-khisht (manna),
'bcerzund (a gum), ispiruck (a yellow dye), and
caraway-seeds.
The price of provisions in Meshed is very
moderate, as will appear by the following ex-
tract from a table of prices current, made dur-

Eight Irdk reals = Z tomaun of Irik, or 13s.

One Tabreez mun = 7 lbs. English and a fraction.
Reals. Muns.
Bread (average price) .......................... 1 5
Dearest cost, 1 real 3 muns ; cheapest,
1 real 12 muns.
. Barley .............................................. 1 10 t o 15
Kou (chopped straw, uaed as food for cattle) 1 25
Rice (from t l ~ e vicinity of Toos, or from
Roojnord) .......................................1 1 to 14
In winter, when the sheep are at

At other times ....................

I 2
About on'e hundred dleep, or two hundred Ininbs, artl
daily killed in .Meshed. Bcef is ent;en only by the poor
 PRICE OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES. 353
classes ; occasionally camel's flesh is sold. Very many of
the pilgrims eat no meat, living upon bread and cheese,
a n d curds or fruits.
Reals. Muns.

F o w l s ....
For one (dear) .....................
0i -
{ A pair (cheap) ..................... 0;
I n spi*ingand summer ............
1
-
2
.a

{
Clarified butter..
111 winter ........................... 2
.................................
2 1
1

T u r n i p s , carrots, gourds, and cucumbct~s.... 1 10

O n i o n s (according to season) .................. 1 5 to 10

G r a p e s and melons
-.
............................. 1 10
&'me apples .......................................r 3

P e a c h e s , pears, and quinces ... ... 1

............ 2
Rock salt (from Neshaboore) ................. 1 10
T a l l o w and oil ...................................1 1
Pistachio, brought from a dis-
..............................
1 8 to 10
Common sort (a camel load, kc.) 1 -
Much of the province of Meshed is fertile,
but, its produce being insufficient for the de-
r n a n d s of the city, grain is imported from
3 4 eshaboore and from ICoordistaun. Many of
-the householders, who profit by baking bread
a n d sending i t into the streets for sale, keep
s t o r e s of grain, to be provided against failure
o f supply from without.
T h e people of Rleshed chiefly drink water,
w h i c h is conducted to the city b y canauts. A t
VOIh I. 2 A
354 CAMELS AND I-IORSES.

ln:~ill gate tlmere is a large nlid deep rc-

servojl; alld within the city are many more.
There is scalacely a liouse witho~zta well, but
water is rather bracl<ish.
T h e average price of a cainel at Meshed is
from forty to forty-five IrQB rcals. Tllesc ani-
lPl& are had from the descrt ; some from the
Serruxees, but Inore (tl~rought h e inedi~linof
the ICoords) from the Teltlrall Toorltm~zns,who
breed them in great numbers. T h e ICoords also
breed tllese animals for sale, as do the GGklan
Toorkmuns.
I-Iorses are generally scarce at Meshed it-
self, but from the Icoords many coullcl be pro-
cured. Mercllants at Astrczbad calculated that
the Yirnoot T o o k ~ n u a sc o ~ ~ furnish
ld annlu~lly
one thousand horses, at the rate of twcnty
tomauns a head, ainong which there would be
animals worth no more tllall ten, am1 others
worth as m~zclias from fort;y to fifty or sixty,
tomauas each. The ICoords could providc
yearly about two thousand five hunclreci at a
sornewllat chcaper ratc, as t l ~ c yscar tllcm-
selves many 1nol.c t l ~ ut h y nced, nud could
get them frotn the G8klaiis or 'I'ekkahs.
M1~k.sarc denrcr at Rlcslicd tllan ni; most other
places i11 l'crsia.
The mean heat of I7allrcnhci t at Ril rsl~ccl,from
 RETURN OF THE ALLIED TROOPS. $55
the 28th June t b the 13th September (i11 the
shade, at the hottest tinie of the day), was 89".
The mercury rose one day to 98", and it did
not fall lower t1.1an 7gO. When we quitted
the city, towards the middle of Septembel;
the nights had become exceedingly cold. The
winter here is very severe ; inucli silow falls.
August %$.-The allied troops ret~zrnedin-
gloriously from the desert, looking all very
weary and disconsolate, I t appeared that, after
inaking a feint of marching upoil Senux, and
thereby inducing the Toorkmuns of that place
to retire into the desert, they had gone north-
erly, in the direction of Dereg~zz, spent some
tiine in firing at a mud fort, and lost one hun-
dred and fifty men in skirmishes with the
Toorkinuns ; and that then, finding tllemselves
short of water and food, they had returiled
llastily to Mesl~ed,to escape starvation. Riteel.-
zn Mousa, w11o had been taken to the scat of
war much against his inclination, rode into the
city " with the air of a inan who had lost his
father," and, soiled as he was with travel, went
at once to vent his sorrows at the tomb of the
Saint Reza. A crowd soon assembled at the
shrine, and from a looker-on we heard what
had passed. I t came out that the chiefs had
quarrelled about the plan of operations, and the
2A 2
356 DIShGREBRlENT AMONG TIIE TROOPS,

Vuzeel; declaring that if his suggestions had

been attended to they might have swept the
infidels from off the face of the desert, wept in
admitting that these had set them at nought ;
and he liiilted that ~ n u c hof the failure might
be owing to their havir~g allied themselves
with one set of infidels against another. The
minister's aiin was to get out of the scrape
with good grace, and his reputation for wis-
dom gave him the day against the Icoord and
Affghauu cl~iefs,who told their stories to no
purpose.
It was now announced that the Affghaun
army would in a few days return to EIeraut,
and travellers in that direction prepared to
journey under its protection. I t may be well
here t o describe the occasion of this army's
coming to Meshed, and in order t o do that, it
will be necessaiy to glance at the history of the
Aff'hauns.
The great empire which Ahmed Shah Door-
rannee founded A.D. 1747, fell to his son Ti-
mour in 1773. Shah Zemaun, the eldest of
Timour's Inally sons, came to the throne upon
the death of his father, A.D. 1793, but he was
deposed and blinded, in the year 1801, by his
half-brother Mahmood, who owed his rise less
t o any merit of his owl1 than to the bold en-
 HISTORY O F TBE AFFGBAUNS. 357
terprise of Futteh Khan, chief of the powerful
Doorrannee tribe of Baurikzye, whose father
had been executed for treason b y Zeinaun
Shah, and who satisfied at once his revenge
and ambition by dethroning that inonarch
and making hilnself Ma~~mood'sVuzeer.The
usurper's reign was short and unsettled : mili-
tary force alone upheld him till the summer of
1803, when he was deposed in a religious tu-
mult at Caubul, and Prince Shoojall-001-moolk,
full brother to Zemaun, was raised to the
throne by the people.
Shoojah kept the throne till 1809. Mall-
mood, who, by his brother's clemency, had only
been confined st Caubul, was unfortilnately
allowed to make his escape thence. H e fled to
F u t t e h Khan, who had retired to his castle at
Girislik on the Helmund, and that ever ambi-
tious and daring chief did not rest until he had
again made him king. Shoojall, who deserved
a better fate, was fain to fly from his country
into the Punjaub, and finally to seek an asylum
in British territory, within which he has since
lived wit11 his family.
Mahmood was again nominally King at
Caubul, but F~zttehKhan, as grand Vuzeer,
ruled the kingdom as though i t had been his
own, and took the surest means of strengthen-
358 XEBELLION AGAINST MAIIMOOD.

ii~ghis authority by placing mally provinces

in tlie liands of his near kinsmen,
Tlie growth of this man's power was so rapid,
that tlie fears of Mahlnood and of the heir-
apparent (Prince ICamraun) were excited :
they conceived t h a t he aimed a t supreme
power, and, consulting only their jealousy, they
first seized and blinded, and next most cruelly
assassiilated the man who had done so mucll
for thein.
Tlie immediate consequence of this incolzsi-
derate act was that all the kinsinen of Futteh
IChali rebelled ail& made head against Mah-
mood. Tbis weak king, self-deprived of the
support which hstd thl-oughout upheld him, was
sensible of his own incapacity when it was too
late; h e was long in marching his troops t o
quell tlie rebels, and, when a t last he neared
tllem with a force four tiines exceeding tl~eirs,
be still hesitated to engage them. Natilrally of
a timid and vacillating character, lie lost heart,
and became suspicious of those around him,
and finally put the seal upon a series of unac-
countably weak acts, by deserting his army
suddenly b y night, and flying with his son
ICamraun by the directly west road to Heraut.
With the exception of this province, tlie whole
of Affghaunistaun fell into t h e hands of F u t -
 PARTITION OF APFGIIAUNISTAUN. 359
teh IChan's brothers, who portioned i t into
petty governments, a i ~ druled, two or three in
concert, at the differeut seats.
Tlle relative siiuations of the Royal and tlie
Baurikzye families have reniained the same u p
t o the present time, but the Affghauns have
lost to the Sikhs Cashmere and all their coun-
try east of the Illdus ; the Siudees have become
independent ; the Beloochees nearly so ; and
on the west tlre domestic troubles of Persia
have alone prevented that country from en-
croaching upon its fallell neiglibour.
I n this part of Asia, the right of "the strong-
est" is ~ ~ f f i c i e nreason
t for dispossessing a inan
of his country ; but the Persians do not want
excuse for taking Heraut, seeing that they
claiin it as the ancient capital of K~iorassaun.
Towards the end of Shah Shoojah's reign, t h e
Cujjer izaib of Persian IChorassaun coinpelled
a payment of fifty thousand rupees from Prince
IIadjee Feroox, Suddozye, then governor at He-
raut ; and later still, in 1519, Prince Russaa
Allee Meerza sent an envoy from Meshed
formally to desire that the supremacy of F u t -
tee Allee Shah, his father, s h o ~ ~ be l d acknow-
ledged at Heraut. This demand was resisted
by the Affghauns inore stoutly than was ex-
pected, and a battle was fought in consequence,
360 DEATII OF NIAIIMOOD.

but, neither party conquering, the questioll

rested there. Iiamraun, however, is consta~lt
in giving tribute to t l ~ eShah of Persia : h e dis-
guises it under the name of a present, and t h e
Persian monarch allows him the title of Shah ;
but Icamraun must feel, as the Persians do,
that there is more cotlrtesy than sincerity in
their relations, and if (as, if h e lives, he doubt-
less will) Abbas Meerza secures the succession
to the throne, it is very rob able that h e will
add 13eraut to his dominions, if the politics of
Affghaunistaun remain in their present state.
The ex-Shah Mahmood died a t Heraut in
the winter of 1829, and Icamraun, succeeding
to the name of king, bethougl~thim of at-
tempting to recover his country. The misrule
of t h e rebel brothers at Candahar gave him
hopes of success tliere ; but he feared lest, while
he should be absent against t h e capital, his only
place of retreat, Heraut, might fall into t h e
hands of the Persian IChorassaun chieftains.
H e therefore made friendly overtures t o t h e
most powerf111 man among them, Reza ICouli
IChan Icoord, and through him sent amifitblc
prof'essions to the Shah of Persia. Reza I<ouli
Khan was at issue with the Toorkinuns, and,
he being a subject of Futtell A]lee Sllah,
I h n r a u n affected to testify his regard for tile
 PRINCE KAMRAUN'S POLICY.

Persian monarch, in sending the slriny In ques-

tion to co-operate with the Koords against his
Jfajesty's enemies the Toorkmuns. This was
good policy ; for it conciliated the Shah of
Persia, directly obliged the powerf~ilIloord
chief, and was calctilated to produce a very
favourable impression for ICamraun in his own
country, as we observed when we reached He-
raut, where it was bruited about that "the
Shahs of A.ffghaunistaun and Persia had
formed a never-to-be-ended friendship, that
their allied forces had gone like a strong wind
over the desert, driving the Toorkmuns before
them, and that the Shah would presently march
to take possession of his capital," &c.
I n return for the assistance of the Affghaun
troops, Reza ICouli IChan sent a son, wit11 five
hundred ICoords, to give aid and countenance
to ICamraun's projected attempt upon Canda-
har; and he moreover, it was understood, en-
gaged to be a check upon the Khan of Toor-
but-e Hyderah, or upon any of tlie Persian
Khorassaun chieftains who might threaten
Heraut during the absence. of the royal

Still we heard nothing from our friends, but,

anxious to' travel ,the dangerous road between
Rleshed and Heraut under escort of the Aff-
862 CAUTIOUS CONDUCT OF THE VUZEER.

gliaun troops, we redoubled our exertions to

obtain money. Seeing that the inerchants of
t h e city distrusted my story, I caused the Syud
t o write in my name to the Vuzeer, saying
that, as the letters which I had brought to the
Prince and liiin were testimonies of my rank
and character, I begged the favour of his
vouching for tllem, that I inigllt obtain from
soiile merchant money to continue iny jour-
ney. The reply of this cautious diplomatist is
worthy of insertion, and I only regret that I
cannot trailslate it Inore in the spirit of the
original.

'' T O THE VERY EXCELLENT, THE EXALTED I N RANIC,

&c. kc.
" B y the fortunate head of tlle Icebla" of the
Universe, to whoin the lives of the world are
a sacrifice, it is an oath,-that, i11 this country,
such a inerc11an.t as you seek will not be found.
H a d the fulfilment of your wishes beell within
possibility, compliance with your request would
have beell a pleasure. On. all matters write
your wishes, that I may do your bidding."
* The Kebla is the point to which men turn when they
pray, here used in an liyperbolicnl sensc to signify the Slinh
of Persia, a rnonai.ch towarcls whom the cycs of the Universc
are supposed to be clirectecl.
 AFOLOGlZES FOR ITIS NEGLECT. 363
Tliougli lie had treated us civilly when we
called upon him, the minister had not given
himself any pains to sllow us atteation, never
having once rendered me the compliinent of
sending to inquire abo~ltmy health ; and h e
felt conscious of his remissness in this particu-
lar, foi; the next inonling, when the Syud
attended at the levee, lie received him very
affectionately, and taking a pen from his
scribe's hand, wrote oil a small slip of paper,

Cc 0 SYUD OP MINE,
" If the very excellent Mr. Conolly re-
proaclies me, i t is iiot, I confess, without apparent
reason ; but God knows that a multiplicity of
busiaess 118s kept me in bondage, and I did not
inquire about his well-being, knowing that you
were wit11 him. The sum of your need, God
can witaess, I possess not, and in this country,
casli is like Oonkd, a bird which flies so fast
that it is not seen. You, who have the
tongue of eloquerlce, convi~lceyour friend of
m y sincerity."

W h e n our affairs were at the worst came

relief: not that wliicl~we expected, nor alto-
gether sucli as we sl~ouldhave cl~ose~i,b u t still
assistance, which, considering our situation, we
364 GIIOLAM REZA, A YEZD MXRCIIANT.

were very grateful for. Our good friend the

Aukhoond-zadeh m e t with a young lnerchant
who was about to visit his relations at EIeraut,
and who, after much persuading, agreed t o pay
our debts, and take us with him to that city,
on condition that we despatched an express
messenger t o Tehraun, and bound ourselves
not to leave I-Ieraut until he should be satis-
fied. We could only bind ourselves with pro-
mises, which are too common i n these parts to
be tho~zghtmuch of; but the Aukhoond boldly
offered himself as our security, and though he
could hardly have raised half the sum he
pledged himself for, the merchant was assured
by the confidence that he reposed in us.
Gholain Reza was the name of the Yezd
merchant: I do n o t remember it out of any
regard for t h e young man, for his character
was a compound of meanness and knavery, and
we were truly glad when we were freed from
his claims. A s a preliminary, he made us agree
to purchase his horse for seventeen tomauns, be-
cause it did not suit hini t o keep it. To no PUP-
pose did we protest we had already a horse too
many, and that his animal was not worth a
third of seventeen tomam~s;lie liad made up his
mind, he said, to gel; rid of tllc beast, a11d surely
we ought t o oblige him, if wc expcctcd lliln to
 111s MEANNESS ,AND IINAVERY. 365
oblige us ; logic that there was no disputing.
F o r ttvo hundred tomauns, tvhich we wrote to
desire might be immediately paid into his agent's
hands at Tehraun, he agreed to give us one hun-
dred and forty, but he paid us iu light money,
and in such sillall instaltnents, that w e never felt
any richer ; he took advantagc of us in every
petty way possible, and, as a conclusion to inatch
his preliiniaary, kept back part of the cash ~ultil
w e agreed to allow hirn the use of tile horse he
had sold us all the way to I'leraut.
W e wrote pressiiig letters to our friends, to
the Persian minister for foreign affairs at Teh-
raun, and to our friend the Psrsee merchant,
requesting thein to pay our debts aild send us
more money ; these letters we gave into the
hands of a cossid, a Cashmerian, who engaged
t o go on foot to Tehraun in twelve days, and
t o follow us to Heraut at the same rate, as
soon as he should receive an answer. -4s the
only means of performing this labour, he said,
h e would put himself upon a diet of bread
soaked in clarified butter and white sugar.
I was not insensible of Moo112 Mohummud's
great kindness, for he showed i t i n very inany
instances ; but in this particular one, I could
not help perceiving that a second motive gave
a spur to his zeal. H e could not, as indeed
 none of these people can, conceive i t possible
tllat a European should incur danger,
labour, a ~ l ddiscon~fortof such a journey for
the mere love of locomotion, and he tllerefore
satisfied Ilin~selfthat I was travelling for poli-
tical purposes. Remembering the occasion of
Britisli ambassador's coming to the court of
Shall Shoojah, he fal~cieclthat I had been sent
to report upon the land, and that, b y assisting
m e on t o Heraut, he might gain the favour of
Shah ICamrstun. I do n o t exactly know w h a t
his tl~oughtswere, but they were sometl~ingof
this sort, and he early made a point of intro-
ducing us t o Abbas Khan, a Persian noble-
man in tlic servicc of Shah ICaniraun, who was
at once his pupil and patron. This y o u n g
noble ma^^, w l ~ oheld a command in the Aff-
gha~znarmy, showed us every civility, begging
that we would consider his marching establish-
inei~tas our own, ancl expressing a hope t h a t
l ~ sllould
e be able to serve us on our reaching
his home.
P
Having now the meails of continuing our
journey, we prepared for it, the Aukhoond-zadeh
assuring us that we inigllt travel as thougll we
were packed in cotton. A friend and i?roteg&
of the Syud's, who, having a slight liiiowledge
of medicine, as Asiatics practise it, wished t o
368 TIIE v u z ~ ~ r t OPINION
's OF TI] I? EN( :J,IsII.

ing, we were told, fifty-two drugs, a n~ortion

of virtue from cncll of wllic11 W:lS ~Ollsitl~re(X
necessary to form n whole, that w011ld mlnove
the indisposition under which the iuillister
Iaborrred.
Meerza Mousa sec~nedto t1iink WC I1:td coinc
to dun him, alld was so snl-pi*isctlW ~ C told I ~
tllat we had fo~ound tlzc inorchnlit TVC souglit,
that he looked rather foolisli, b ~ l t rluiclily , rc-
covering himself, be nssuuleci all affbctiountc
air, and heartily colzgmatulated us. 'c Agn !"
were his words, travcl W I I C ~ Cyo11 will, YOU
have a bz~lcht* which will carry you or1 : by
the life of the Slzah you Iinvc: ! r11lie 111gIis~"
he said to liis company, c c succcccl ill ~vlintcvcr
they undertalcc : see l11is lnnn, lie h;is col~io
(how many tllousand f ~ i i ~ s ~ ~isk liti s?) ;ill t l i ~
way from Frai~g,and now, Irisl~allall! Ilc will
go 011 safely to I-IindoostG11. lClinli !" ;l(l(li*cssitig
an Affghaun ~ioblcri~a~i s~ntc(2cq~l,ositc~, " this

friend is consignccl illto your Ti;ttid.~."-~-.~* Xris11-

allnli !" was tlie reply-a .rvor(I wliicl~,:~c!cortlir~g
to thc cml~l~asis laic1 nl)ori t . 1 1 ~ cliKet.c:~it sy1l:t-
bles, is by I'cssinns illatlc to csi)l.clss v:vit,rrs
meal~ii~gs,but ~vl~i(:li t l ~~ i f r g l i : ~ \ out,
~ ~ ~or s,
rcspcct Sol. tlic word, colt~~~lorlly \ r a t u.itlrc,lit
any rncclnii~gat :tll, Ask :i m:rrl Irow old I r i t is,
 TARE LEAVE OF TISE VUZEER. 369
m d the odds are he will answer,-" Please God,
thirty, or thirty-five," as may be ; how many
~013she has ?-(( Please God, half a dozen ;" and
one person asking another about his village
will say,-<( That is a nice place of yours, Insh-
allah !"--to which the answer will be, "Bzalli
~fzslzallrhi!",-i' Please God, it is !" B u t to take
leave of the Vuzeer : lie lavished fine speeches
up011 the Syud and me, which my friend was
not backward in returning, protesting that we
were so overpowered with the recollection of
his Inany kiildnesses that we had not words to
express our sense of them. 6 6 Well then," said
the minister as we arose, cr you will ride wit11
the Khan to-morrow ?"-" By your favour, we
are engaged to accoinpany Abbas Khan, w l ~ o
l ~ a charge
s of the rear-guard."--" Better stil.1-
better still - go thei~, and God keep you !
Khan ! these are confided to you ; have a special
regard to their comfort on the road, and see
them safely forwarded to Candahar ! ' y - - cBy c
my eyes and head, Vuzeer !" was the answer,
and we took leave.

V O L . I.
 CHAPTER XVTTI.

Departure from Mcslied with tlic AKgliaon arlily. R'Tnroll -

of t h e ICafiInh. - Ignornnc:~of tho ltoutc. -TIillt f;)r t l ~ r
Night.-Punishment of tllc I I a z ~ ~ ~ ~ r c l i s . - ( ' o ~ ~ lol'
i ~tlic*
sio~l
Marcll.-Bed of the I-Ieril+oo(l.-T~~rl)~lI:-~! S1i:lilil1 ,J:I~I.-
Loves of Lylec 2nd Mujnoon.-Dcprcdiltio~~s on the 11~15-
-
bandmcn. - Tnrnmeer~nuga. TIlc dcscrl.ctl Tow11 oT
1Cousiin.-Duty levierl on t h e ICnfilnl~.-Sui~~mc~~~s li.c~in
the Sirdnr-I-Iis Inquiries coiiccrning tllc Author.-lg~~o-
rance of tlie Asiatics respecting 1':uropc:ltl Nations.

WE rode from the I3cm1it gutc of' fllcsllcil

at sunset, 017 the 13th of Scpte1111)cr ISSO,
company with the Aulthooacl-xadcli :~ntl:Ltlozcil
others, m d e r the escort of 1l1)'t)as IClla~land
fifty troopers, the rear-g11arcl of tllc ~41Pglla1nl
army. A inoollii of thc city acc:on~pnl~ictl us
a few hundred pnccs froln tllc ~v:111~,n l ~ d
tl~en, halting, bcgnn to recite t11c AX;^ :
cc Allah I-lo Acbe~ ! TJsliudo un ;I Sllall 11
11la6 !" &c. VJc drcm 1)ritllc fol- a mot~cllt,
a s d tllell lnoved on, 1c;~vingliirri stttr~dil~g ill
t l ~ crniclcllc o f tllc roacl will1 llis lla~itlsr;liscltl
in prayer for us. fl'lesl~ccku-Noro~~z tiow t ~ o l i
 JOIN THE A P ~ ~ G I I A U NARMY. 371
i an affectionate farewell of us, wishing us luck
in our journey, and brealting., a pot of water
A

after us to ensure it. A little f ~ ~ r t h eon

r
we halted, ~vhileAbbas IC11an went to take
1 leave of the ICoord chief, whose tent was

sera. On the roof of the building - were

piclteted several horses, and arou~ldit, to a con-
siderable distaace, were encamped the chief's
men, horse and foot, a martial but wild-looking
tribe of men. W e rode over a plain, about
twenty miles south-east by east, to Tungul
Shoor, a spring of very brackish water, in a
ravine under a bare hill, near to which the
Affglmun army was encamped. I t was mid-
night when we arrived, and we rode about the
- - -
cainp, among horses, camels, and sleeping men,
i11 what appeared the vain hope of finding our
servant, whom we had sent on with our pro-
perty; till, moused b'y the noise which the
nearly arrived party were making, shoutiilg to
their friends in the dark, be came to seek us
with a torch: and, being conducted to our
baggage we lay down ia our clothes a i d slept
till morning.
A t daybreak a gun was fired, and by sunrise
we were on our march. The troops consisted
of four thousand Affghaun cavalry, one tliou-
 snlld Sooilnee Hazaureh horse (serving ICanl-
raun), nlld five hundred lioords, under the
c~~isser-e-Ee]khanel~," the son of the Lord of
the Tribes ; nlld the artillery comprised four
ligllt and twenty camel swivels. T h e
prospect of tmvelling so uilsnfe a road in secu-
rity ]lad ca~lsedn large kafilah to assemble :
tllere qrere one hundred and twenty camels
bcnrillg covered knj~tval~s, which were chiefly
oeclll~iedby women and children, inany others
ladcl? wit11 food for man aild beast, for we
carried every necessary with us ; inules and
yahoos (ponies) similarly charged, and a crowd
of llorsc, donkey, and footmcn ; every man pay-
ing n tax to tllc generalissimo, as the price of
11isprotection.
On the march, the kafilal~ kept one line,
about twelve camels abreast, where the coun-
t ~ ywas plain ; the Affgha~ms marelled in
dustells (regiments) 013 one side, and, far off
in all directions, the Hazaureh horse lrept a
look-out. W e travelled dl day south of south-
east, over a plain in which were scattered low
hills ; six miles from orrr resting place we saw
011 O U right,
~ distant three miles or so, tile cara-
rallsera of S~~lIgbust, a stage on the usual l~afilah
road. Eight miles beyol~dwere two ruined
brick reservoirs, partly filled up wit11 rubbisll.
W e met with no watell, and felt the jvant of it
much, for the sun was hot and t l ~ edust choli-
ing, and thc water of Tungul Shoor had not
been kept by many on account of its brackisli-
ness. Few seemed to linow any thing aboilt
the route which we were taking ; the professed
for deviating from the usual one mas
Ihmraun's regard for F~zttehAllee Shah, and
his fear lest the march of troops might injure
the Shah's province of ICliorassaun ; but, as in
marching up, the Affghauns had taken thc
liberty of supposing part of it to belong to
Mohumrnud IChan of Toorbut-e Hyderah, and
had wasted hiss lar~dsaccordingly for an old
grudge, the Sirdar got less credit for his deli-
cacy than for his prudence ; for it was ruinoured
that the Toorbut chief had leagued with the
Sewux Toorkmuns to fall upon the Affghauns
on their return.
After thirty miles of plain country we entered
gravelly hills, and, a mile further on, came
upon the bed of a small river, which was aearly
choked by long green grass : the little water
that was in it was so011 rendered inuddy by the

" A man of Abbas IChan's, who was detailing the in-

cidents of their march up, said, The ICaraes must eat
((

barley-bread this yerir, for, please God, me trod every

blade of wheat under foot ; but," added he, " w e il~jured
ourselves as much as our enemies, cursc them, for many
of our horses diet1 from feeding upon the standing wheat."
374 BEACON LIGI-ITS.

croj\rd wllicll rnslled t o quench their thirst, aild,

Iexrning that our resting-place tvas still sevell
iniles ahead, we rode on.
The road now was very nai-row, through
11ills; our horses had carried us ahead of t h e
camels, arid ~vvhen after dark we reached our
ground w e heard that they had knocked up,
nild that the Sirdar had ordered a halt where
we first found water. The few who had food
shared it ; the A~zlthoond-zadehwas tip, arld his
interest procured us solme boiled rice ; there was
plenty of good water, and t h e loan of a horse-
rug enabled me to slecp comfortably t11roog.h
the colcl night. T5Te lay in a small circular
valley, divided by t h e same shallow stream
~vhichwe had first rnet witl~,the bed of whicl~
was hcre also filled with high green grass. I had
fallen asleep, and, awaking suddenly, was startled
by what appeared to m e a supernatural appear-
auce : several large lights shone arouncl our
camping ground, high up i n the air, and a t one
of them seemed to stand the shadows of human
figures. I t was not till, rousir~gmyself, I loolred
attentively at the appearance, that I murltcd the
outliue of the hills, wlzicll t h e extreme ilal-kness
of the night had obscured, and saw that scverc~l
fires had been lighted, by which were
stallding. Thcy wcre bettcons lighte(1 to ~ 1 1 0 ~
 tlie Sirdar where we were, and they were kept
burning until ret~irnsignals were made by the
otlier camp.
15th.-Halt. This spot was called Huftau-
seaub, or seven mills, perhaps, because water-
inills were worked liere formerly. T1ie troops
a i d the lrafilah came up about ten o'cloclr, and
halted for the day. Shortly after arriving, the
Sirdar had before him tlie Hazaurehs who had
headed the ~narchof the day before, and, ac-
cusii~gthan of having puslled on to tlie intent
that they might separate the ltafilali, so as to
carry off stragglers, he ordered some of their
noses to be cut off, and others to be severely
beaten and turned out of tlie camp. I n the
evening, tattoo was beat, and a crier went
through the camp, by order of the Sirdar, t o
threaten the life of any one who moved from
his quarters, or who presiuned to push on ahead
during the march.
16th.-Twenty miles Half a point east of
south-east, over successive ranges of parallel
hills. This day the march was without orda;
for the road was narrow, and all endeavoured
to press forward. Attached to the Affghaun
force were four guns, three twelve-pounders
and a srnaller one, illouiltecl each on a very
heavy carriage, dra w11 by six indifferent horses,
37G IIILI,Y ROUTE.

which were ridden by gaunt Indians, dressed

by way of uniform, in tight red cotton clotl~es.
Once, in the carly part of the inarcl~,a gun
rolled grad~lallybaclc fro111 near the top of a
hill, tlle riders beating their half-choked nags
with large sticlcs, and screaming to urge thein
up the ascent, the crowd the while fighting to
inake their way back, t o escape being crushed ;
and some troopers sent to remedy the confu-
sion, but ir~creasedit, by beating indiscrinli-
nately those withill their reach. At last, gra-
dually ascending, we came t o hills so steep
that the heavy carriages could not be dragged
up them ; so t h e nearest camels were seized
and unloaded without ceremony, and, the guns
being unshipped and packed upon them, the
carriages were sent ro~111dby an easier pass
to our left, and they reached the ground as
soon as we did. T h e Aukhoond-zadeh and some
others, with the majority of the Affghaun
ttoops, took a road to the right of ours, wllich,
by their description, inust have been an easier
one : they met with wate~;which we did not.
We crossed the highest of the parallel rcziiges
eleven miles on the road, and, descending gra-
dually, halted by another small stream, flowing
from us, called Beraush, where there was plenty
of green forage for the cattle.
 BED O F THE IIEllIKOOD. 377
17th.-Nineteen miles, by a tolerable road,
(on a desert) througll narrow grass valleys be-
tween the bases of the hills : water in plenty
after the first ten miles. The last six miles of
our road lay on the bank of a broad bed with-
out a name : good water in sufficiency, and
plelity of forage; name of the spot Tymun-
nuck. H a r d y any of our camp had travelled
this route before, and we could find no one to
tell us what bed this was. I. conceive it to be
that of the I-Ierirood, the water of which is
so largely drawn off for cultivation in the
valley of Heraut that it call hardly, I. conceive,
even in spring season, flow i n any quantity thus
far north. Some Herautees, whom we asked,
said they did not thillk that it was the bed of
the Herirood, but they evideiltly had never
before thought on the matter: we certainly
crossed the bed of the Herirood nearly fifty
miles further south, where it was dry, though
there were springs here and there; and if the
vdley of Heraul was formerly cultivated as it
now is, the Werirood river could hardly have
run so far nol.tli as i t was thought; to do by for-
mer geographers. W e learned that there is no
scarcity of water in these hills, and, oil thc last
day's march, we saw vestiges which showed
that different spots had bee11 inliabited and cul-
378 TOORBUT-E-SIIAIIClI JAM.

tivated : the soil coinmonlg yielded good grass,

which, wherever there was water, gretv l11x~ll.i-
alitly with fill1 flowery tops.
~ 8 t h . A . f t e five
r miles we wound out of the
hills by a defile, and, on the plain, in the dis-
tance, saw the small town of Toorbut-e-Shaikll
Jam, three or four miles in advance of the
branch, or Toorb~ltrai~ge,and bcaring about
seventeen miles south of our resting-place. IVc
marchcd altogether thirty miles, b u t oui8road
took a sweep t o the westward, bringing us
to a point called ICaul-e I'iussanabad, dist:~nt
from Tymunnuck about twenty-five aiilcs
south-south-east l~alfeast. The hills wliicll we
had quitted, were~anour left, running dowii to
Heraut; under them was a dry bed, wliicli I
take to be that of the Herirood.
Toorbut-e-Shaikh Jsin is now a town of two
l~~xndred houses. The tow11 was nr~lncdaftcr
Shaikh Jam, a, saint of rel~utc,whosc rolllains
lie buried ill a beantiful garden. This S11:tikh
J a m has been confo~~ncled wit11 L: rrlnn ~vllo
lived after him, Shaikh Abdurallinx~~u, lillown
b y his poetical name Moullh Jxn-cc, or tlio
A'looll& of the goblct, who wrote tllc! p0o1i1 ol'
Youssuf and Z~lleika(Joseph and I'otipl~ar's
wife), and otllcr nRccting love stories, tllo
of which is that whidl details tho sowrrws of
 TOVI',S
. --
.A- - OF LYLEE AND MUJNOON. 379 +l;Jllli
,I%; IIB
1
lArlee nlld M1?jnoon, the Tbisbe al1d Pyram~ls
,,f tIlc E:lst. Tlieir loves, as all true loves are,
\yere crossed by cruel friends : M~ijnoonpined
k!! y
y ~IJ!
I
I
l

1
I ' tlj;

;/way to a very shadow, so that the birds sat

not knowing llirn to be a man,
011 liis slloulriel*~, 4.it /
'
# I
$I j,
;111rI the wild gazelle did not lift u p her eye ici::

, bh, ' l 1

from gr:lzing when he approached. Lylee, too, $:L.I1 I

i. I
fell very sick : the physicians could not tell ;(I 1
licr disorder, but they ordered her to be bled, I

iuicl so lnuch s y ~ n ~ a t hwas

y there in Mujnoon's
love for ller, that, tl~oughhe was far distant at
t l ~ ctimc, ~vllcnher vein was pierced, he also
i'clt ii pang and a streain started spontaneously
f>om his arl~l.--Mortal love call go no further.
'L'lle town has decayed evw since the Toork-
lllulls got the efitir.~:e
of the country. 111 1825,
Allah lCouli Iihnn of Khiva carne with an
:vu~yal~ilchuppaoed the country round, cariy-
i l ~ eoff tllc illhabital~tsof two or three entire
villages, inducing Inally to leave the neigh-
bourliood for fear of a siinilar visitation ; and
t l ~ cplace, tl~ough110mi11ally belonging to the
Sllali of Persia, was held very independell tly
by a Hazaurell chief. The plain had been
cultivated to some iniles extent, b y means of
several sinall cailauts of good water: lucltily
for tile husbal~clmen,~ n l ythe straw of their
crop remizir~cciupon the grouild : it had beer1
 380 TIIE C U I , T I \ ~ ~ T L J I : S~ '' ~ t ~ ~ l l l < l ~ ' l ' ~ .

small and piled ill staclis, hot tllesr

were quicI<ly tllrowll d ( ; ~ l: L~I I,( ~ tllcrc. IVWC f ~ r v
wllo did not busy il~clilscl\~cs i l k carryiiig :.oil'
loads bef0l.c tlie t ~ o o p sS ~ ~ O Ucollltl ~ C ~'"1. ?'lit>
JloollA I-Iosscili (ulicc cluol;cd :LS llavirlg colilc!
to M.cshed in tllc trail1 of tlic ~lul<llooilci-r/;~clc~I~)
was riding :.war us o ~ ai .rvl.ctclicrl Iiorsc;
w l ~ i c lcarried
~ hiin, :I wife, and a l:u.g:.e l)uiltllc,
a t first, out of rcgartl for orir opiriioxi, ~'cl)ro-
bated the act of a p p r o p r k i the! r!ultiva tors'
property, but, seeing that; 110 oric listcnctl t o
liiin, and that the troops weri! fast r~u~kling 1114
lie did not trust 11ims~;lfto look :kt us, l ~ l t ,
j~1mping from his nagy 111:ltlc for tllc i~c:trc~sl,
Iicap, and, for .tv:~rlt; of clot11 in xvllic*l~to 1):lcli
thc spoil, took ofFliis julh)a, i~ti(1,fillitlg it with
lnnily arlnfnls of' tlic straw, uscbtl tllc* I ~ ~ C * ( I I P OtoS
tie UP a load xvllicl~ he ;~drlctlto tltc alrt*:tcly
grcat burclen uf his llckrse. " I lallal Ijarotl," Ilc
said i11 a~pologyto us, it was l:~tvfi~l ; i l l ;ultrtllcr
minute tllc soldiers woulrl I ~avcbst~4~1>1 t llc* f ic*ltl;
bcsirlcs, it was 11rob:111Iytlic ~)rol~i~r'f lrof' i~iiiclc*ls.
JVIicn we rocle 111' to our groutu1. wv fi~tliiti
I~iany of tllc A i l ~ l l : ~ tl*o~rlrcbl.s
~u~ c~ilg:l!gc~tt.jrl
catcl~i~lg bblaclc l~artritlg(w w l r i r t t r ~ v t ~ ri ltl ~ :111
cxtc~lsivcfield of' lolrg gbr;1hs. ~ ' L L I - I ~ ~ I ~ ; ~ t ; ~ t j o ~ l c q l
the~~isclvcs ill :t~lti ~outicl{llis, :rkttl J Y ~ I ~illr~y ~ J ~
flu~hcrln bird, t l ~ c yfiiglit~~~crti it witlr h l l ( l l l [ ~
country was plail~,and thc road ran nearly pa-
rallel wit11 the Herirood, about tlirec miles
from it. Eleven miles on the nray, we passed
through the deserted town Ilousiln, or as it is
l~nmed in old books, ICousavee, tlie fort of
which place is mentio~iedas having held out
382 A DESERTED TOWN.

q a i n s t Chengis Khan : only three years before

the town had been forsalcea, on account of the
constant illroads of tlie Toorkmuns : there was
a very fine cawvansera, scarcely a brick of which
had been displaced ; the roof of the houses had
lllostly fallen in, b u t in some of thc gardens
t l ~ efrnit-trees had not been destroyed, and
they flourished among the ruins. The contrast
touched even some of our party : halj"zlsi, they
said, '(it is a pity," and I heard one Sheah friend
add to another in a confidential tone, " but
Inshallah Taullall, Abbas Meerza will come
to IZhorassaun, and burn the fathers of tliese
Affghauns and of the ToorIIcmuns, dogs as they
both are."
My friend's spleen was frequently excited,
for, no particular danger being now appre-
hended, the Hazaurehs and many of tlie Aff-
ghauns marched in what order they would,
and the Persians, being unable t o go far with-
out halting to take a whiff of tobacco, wcrc
sure, the moment they poduccd a pipc, to be
surrounded by a crowd of horsemen, who would
stay to partake of it just as though it had bccn
their own. My companion, who was of a very
peppery temperament, toolz: tlicse frecdoms ill,
and was disposed to rcf~lse his tobacco to
strangers. One morning, as we liriltecl for a
moment to smoke, an Affglia~inalso stol~pcd
were not slow t o 11se : some, who resisted their .i
demands, were scverely wounded. W e saw a
man struclc to the ground who was for some
min~ztes supposed to have been killed ; t l ~ e
woinen of liis family set up a wail, and a body
of inen went to the Sirdar's tent to complain ;
but the general, 011 learning t l ~ a tthe man had
come to his senses again, dismissed the suitors,
advising the111 t o pay what was required, and
so avoid such accidents.
About nine a t night we were roused from
sleep by a messenger from the head-quarters
of the camp, who said that the Sirdw wished
to see me ; and, though at a loss to guess the
cause of this ill-timed summons, the Syud and
I rose, and followed the messenger through the
camp to ail open tent, under which were assem-
bled the generalissinlo and his staff. Sirdar
Yar Mohummud 1CI1an did not receive us
either with much politeness or dignity : he .was
on a low bedstead, leaning his length on one
arm, and scratching himself wit11 the otller :
fi+oin his couch to the entrace of the tent sat
a seinicircle of Khans, among whom, after tlle
Syud's salaam alilcoom had been answered,
he motioned that we sho111dtake place, but no
one seated there seemed inclincd to acknow-
ledge his inferiority by lnnlcirig roow for us.
 . .

,INTERVIEW WIT11 THE SIR.DAR. 385

,: The Syud, seeing at a gla~icethe place he was
entitled to, walked directly to it, and stood
quietly before two men, till they parted to let
him in. I, not having the pretensions vrrhich
his descent gave him, occupied a dubious post,
near Abbas IChan, but behind the line.
The Sirdar whispered solmething in the ear
of Abbas Khan, probably to ask how much
civility he was to bestow upon me; and then
our friend said, " Tlie Sii-darbids you welcome."
<< May the condescension of the Sirdar not
diminish !" was the Syud's answer :upon which
the great i n a l ~took the conversatio~~
upon him-
self. << You are ?" << An Eng~isl~man."--c~From
wl~ence?"ccEngland."-" And travelling?" << To
Hindoostdn."-- c 6 You have been i11 India?"
" Some years."-" And YOU left it ?" << On ac-
count of my By what road ?" '<By
sea."--"And why did you not go back by sea ?"
<< So great," answered the Syud for me, "is the
name of the.Affghauns in his country, that he
desired to see and know them ; besides, the lalid
route is the shortest."-c6 Good," said the Sirdar,
and after a moment he added, cc IChoos11 ome-
deed," '< You are welcome." A Hazaureh Khan
now in rather a supercilious manner asked me
if I was not a Christiaii ; a i d on my answering
in the affirmative, begged that I would explain
VOL. I. 2c
386 PERSIAN IGNORANCE.

my religion, root and branch ; but the Synd

excused me from this, by saying that I was
neither sufficiently well-versed in divinity nor
in the Persian language, and so tlleir inquiries
were turned upon " the land of the English,"
of which they had most confused ideas; Ab-
bas 1Chai1, the only one who pretended to a
knowledge of European countries, not undcr-
standing whether London was in England, or
England in London, or whetller they were not
both in I-Iindoost$n. W h a t does your tribe
in India?" wslred a stoutis11 y o u t l ~who proved
t o be 66 the son of the lord of the tribes ?" c c W e
possess it."--c' HOWpossess it ?" cc O ~ i rking
orders the govcrninent."-" Does he strilre
coin ?" " The coin of the country has not been
altered, and rupees are coined as before." The
exclamation of wonderful ! a i d an incredulous
smile and stare, were the rejoinder to my last
answer, and the young chief evidelltly con-
ceived that I was equivocating ; for, in the
opinion of Asiatics, tile right to coin inoney is
the chief prerogative of a ruling power, and,
without doubt, our Ilaving refrained from
using this privilege, Iias caused much rnisap-
prellc7nsion ainong cnstcrn peoplc generally
regarding the nnturc of our governlxicnt in
13indoost;tnn.
388 VAIN BOASTING.

blzt still it Tvas evident that they were galled

t o tllinlc that even they had been collquered
b y tllc infidel Oroos. 1was often asked whe-
ther the Russians really had got the better of
the Persians, as it was said ; and once, in a
company of Affghauns at I-Ieraut, when 1 men-
tioned that t h e Muscovites had routed Abbas
Aleerza's army, one of the assembly said vely
sincerely with a sigh, A h ! if Slzeerdil Iclzan
had been there with his three thousand lords
of the sword and stirrup, h e would have given
a different account of the Oroos."
TYhile we were seated with the Sirdar, an
officer came i n to report that the sound of a
musket had been heard not far from the camp,
up011 which one hundred men were ordered out
to the side on which the kafilal~lay, and the
patrols were ordered to be alert, on pain of
losing their ears and noses. The Sirdar's man-
ner was gracious to us when we rose to de-
part. " NOWthat we are acquainted," said he,
"you will ride with us on the march ; we
mount when t h e gun fires ;-klzoosl8 onzedeed."
W e did not avail ourselves of this invitation,
for I was shabbily dressed, and badly mounted,
and did not for other reasons wish to make
myself conspicuous.
 I~OSANUCICAND ENVIRONS. 389

CHAPTER XIX.

Rosanuck.-Arrival at 1ieraut.-Filthy Lodging at a Cara-

vansern. -A resolute Ilnpostor -His nttempl nt Extor-
tion-Reception of him by the Syud.-A Persian Quar-
rel.-Expulsion of the Intruder.-Apprehension of the
Author and the Syud.-Examincd by the 1Cot1vAl.-Ac-
cusation of the Stranger, and the Syud's Defence.-Search
of the Author and his Effects.-Iiijee Moolli Ran~aznun.
-Entry of the Sirdnr.-Visit to the Sirdar.-Punishn~ent
of a I-Iusband for beating his Wife.-The Sirdar's Brother.
-The Sirdar's Court-His Personal Appearance.-The
Attar Bbhee-Singular Cause of his Elevation.--Opi-
nions of the Affgllauns relative to the Russians.-Route
from Meshed to Hernut.

SEPT.21.-Sixteen miles to Rosanuck, by a

plain good road. Half way was Shubbush, a
small mud fort, immediately about which was
a little cultivation, walled in for fear of the
Too~kmuns. The bastions of the fort were
open on all sides, and within tllein were fixed
horizontal windmills, each turned by five or s k
light mat-sails. Rosanuclc is a well-sized vil-
lage. Ghourian was said to bear seven or eight
miles soutli-south-west of us, concealed by the
390 ARRIVAL AT HERAUT.

hills, in the direction of which several forti-

fied villages were visible. From Rosanuck
t o Heraut the distance is forty miles: on the
right of the road from Ghourian to the city
is an unbroken line of fortified villages, so that
a traveller may halt where he will. Fifteen
miles on the road from Rosanuck is Shikkee-
wan ; close to it iklun~meezuck,a village wit11
a strong little foivt. W e rested here an hour,
and, for one small piece of copper, the lowest
coin current, we purchased as many fine grapes
as two persons cared t o eat. W e rested on the
night of the 22nd at Skher Ileis, a little fort,
fifteen miles from t h e city. Here they had
actually t h e conscience to levy another duty
upon the kafilah, 011 account of thc governor of
Ghourian, who had licence to tax all travellers
through his province; and no one was allowed to
proceed to the city until he had paid his share.
On the morning of the 22nd we rode into
Heraut : villages, add well-watered fields and
gardens, crowded upon each other as we ad-
vanced into the valley, and our road lay
through them t o the very walls of the city.
L o n g before we reached the town, we were
met by patties of the inhabitants, who came
out t o welcome friends ;but most of these were
disappoiilted, the astrologers haviag deter-
mined that an auspicious hour for entering the
 FILTHY DWELLING. 391
city would not occur for four days. W e met
in tlie crowd with a merchant with wl~omwe
had made acquaintance at Tehraun, and under
his guidailce proceeaed to a caravansera in the
city, where, as we wolild not engage a cell for
six months, they put us into a dark and filthy
hole, off the range of chamnbers, which smelt so
abominably that i t was distressing to be in it.
The Syud, " accoutred as he was," went out to
search for better lodging, but was met by a ser-
vant of Abbas Khan's, whoin that nobleman
had kindly sent to tell us that be had ordered
a small house to be cleared for our reception.
24th.-Finding it ilnpossible to sleep in our
cell, I spread my bed in the gallery which ran
round the chambers, ancl slept comfortably, till
aroused by a kick in the back ;I looked up and
saw an old Affghaun Moo112 standing over me.
'<Haveyou no shame," he asked, " to be sleep-
ing an hour after prayer-time ?-get up.'' I
assured him that I was very unwell, and need-
ed rest; but he authoritatively insisted up011
my removing myself a r ~ dmy bed out of sight,
and I had nlotlling for i t but to obey him.* 1
was alone in our cell later in the morning when
* The Soonnee MoollAs of Heraut are few, but tllcy are
great disciplinarians, and so zealous that, on Fridays, t h y
beat tl~eircollgrcgatiolls into tlie mosqucs, if they arc not
disposed to go of their o w n accord.
 392 VISIT FROM AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE.

two inen entered, one in the dress of n Syud,

and, seating themselves without ceremony, ad-
dressed several i q ~ e r t i n e tn questions to me.
T h e Syud was the one who chiefly spoke; he
addressed me in the HindoostAnee language,
desiring to ltnow why, having set out for Uolt-
liara, I had come down t o EIeraut. I dccliiled
giving a11 account of znyself to strangers, up011
which he said, that I must recollect having
seen him at Astrabad, wheil Gholam Allce
Shah (.an Indian derveish) and lie had visited
us, to make arrangements for travelling to
IChiva together. I did recollect the circurn-
stance of two Indians 11aving called on us the
day that we cluitted Astrabrtd, but this man's
face was not familiar to me ; liowevcl; I did
not deny that I might have seen liim, and
thereupon he proceecled to tell me what l~acl
happened subsequent to our departure.
((When you went," he said, "and i t was
known that you were a IXussiari, tlierc was R
lzue-and-cry after those who liad been seen to
cominunica te with you ; tlic Shahzadcli killcci
Gholam Allee Shah, and bcatillg me within ,z
little of my life, took to tlic value of oiie
hundred tomauns from me, and turi~edme out
of the town, ns this rnali T V ~ I Owas with nie
can testify ; was it not so ?"-'( Uulli," answercd
hi.8 colleague, " Yes, it was just so."
394 UNMEANING COMPLIMENTS.

against a Syud); therefore P assured him that

we really had very little money, but that of
what little there was the Syud kept tlie keys,
and that, if he would favour us with a visit on
the morrow, we would talk the inatter over;
and with this he was obliged t o be contented,
and so took his leave.
25th.-This ,morning we removed into Ab-
bas Khan's house, the upper part of which,
consisting of two rooms separated by a small
open passage, we occupied, picketing our horses
in the court below. About iiooii came the
strange Syud, according t o my invitation: I
had prepared my companion to receive him,
and accordingly, the rnomei~t that tlie inan
reached the head of the stairs, ICasatlrnut Allee
went forward to meet him, led hiin to the
highest seat, and q t ~ i t e oppressed him with
asking after the state of his health. No sooner
did the stranger open his mouth, than m y
friend addressed a florid compliment to hiln,
How strange it was that they should meet in
H e ~ a u tagain !--How little a man knew what
fortune had in store for him !" kc. I saw b y
the flush on the stranger's countenance that
this could not last long, and presently, as if
determined not t o be worried out of his self-
possession, he assumed a determined e o ~ ~ n t e -
 -*-@w=& 4"
.
--.
--.
a*. . -

AN ALTERCATION. 395
nance, and asked the Sy~ldif he knew the
reason of his visit. 6' Something I have heard,"
answered the Syud, "but kindly indulge us
with a full detail of your wishes."-" Then, I
wish to know, shortly, if you intend to restore
what you caused to be extorted from me."
" A s shortly, then," said the Syud, altering at
once his tone and manner, 66 we do n o t ; and
for several good reasons, Aga, the best of which
is, that if we had oilc hundred thousalzd to-
mauns, you should not touch the value of s
copper coin of them. Brotl~er! we are no fish
for your net; so b e satisfied with the assill-ance,
and do not waste time and roguery which you
may employ to better purpose elsewhere." Tlze
man's face actually became livid with rage, and,
when 11e could find utterance, he said in a
choked voice, " You do not know me that you
contemn m e ; perhaps, when you have been
dragged before the Shah, and skinned with
whips, your tone will be diffel*ei~
t ; we will have
you to the ordeal of the oven,%and then it will
be seen what sort of a Syud you are, leading
about a professed infidel to spy all countries."
* A hot experiment upon a person's virtue, nns~veringto
our zlllcient test of wallcing upon hot irons. If Monsieur
Cbnbert should fi~ncytrwclling in tllcsc countries, hc miglil
pass for a Syud of t l ~ cfirst order.
396 DISMISSAL OP THE IML'OSTOR.
' 'Not know you !" retorted nly ii'ie11t1, now
6

fairly roused, cc not know you ! arc you not

that beggar to wllo~n I gave half a re:d iii
charity a t Astrabad ? D o g of a bad brcctl, wlio
have now turned to bite tlic llailil tliat fcc2 you!
Go ! inan without Iionesty ! go tliicf ! go rascal !
go ! I spit upon you." T h e dialogue now bc-
came shortel; botli bcing cnmgcd to sucli L: dc-
gree tliat tliey abused each othcr in t l ~ :lilost
unincasurcd terms. cc Pay inc two t1ious:uld
tomauns," screamed the i~npostor;" liclp :~gaillst
robbers !"-cc Seize lliin !"returned tlic Syuil; " I
recognise a man who murdered my father, aliil,
stole tell thousnad toinnuns." Our Pcrsinli
friend and our scrva~ltcame in at tlie noise, :uid,
seeing that it ~vonlilbri11.g ;L crowcl ill up011
us, we all set upon t h e fellow, aiid tlirust 11i11i
i ilarrow staircase; arid, as 11c was 1)orric
d o w ~the
down backwards, a step a t a timc, lie vciit~'t1
the grossest abuse upon us and our auccstors,
sweariiig to returli prcscrltly and play tl~c:vclry
deuce with us. Sor~icliours clnpsing ~vitliout
our hcaring more of I i i i ~ ~tlic
, Syud 1vc11f;o~lt,
and, calling up011 I-Iytlcr Kouli Kllan (Sl~uniloo),
a l'crsian noblcnlan ill l<amra~lni'sscrvict?, to
whorn wc 1iad ail i l l t r o ~ l ~ ~ clcttor,
t ~ r y 116 rlicil-
tioriccl tlic circumst;aiicc. l.'llc Ji.ha11 killilly
sent a n3ai1 to rcxrluirl at our I~o~tse, X~utwo r l i ~
 MIDNIGI-IT ARREST. 397
missed him, late in the evening, feeling satisfied
tllat our enemy had thought better of his
attempt.
TVe had made a party to go the next morn-
ing to visit the shrine of a famed saint, buried
four miles from the city, and, being awakened
from sleep, and seeing a person standing in the
passage in which I lay, I thought i t was the
Yezd mercl~ant,and spoke to tell him that he
had come too soon. Receiving no answer, I
rhised my head, and then saw a party of men
at the foot of my bed, and was aware that they
had come froin the roof, by a small flight of
steps, down which others were still descending.
Mad my sword been near me, it would have
been a mere bravado to draw i t against such
numbers ; and, as they were now round the bed,
I sat up, and asked the reason of my being thus
broken in upon, at which one, with an air of
authority, called me rascal, and, giving me a
poke in the stomach with a long stick, bade me
rise and see. " It is the kotwkl," said a man,
seizing my wrist at the sane time ; and a
second one placing hiinseIf on my other hand,
they led me into the room in which slept ' t l ~ e
Syud, whom I found standing on his bed, held
by the wrists by two or three armed persons,
and tllreatenin~all the intruders with the vpn-
398 O V I ~EXAI\IINATION.

gcnilce of Sllall ICnmramn, for ~~110111 we hart

lct ttcrs.
Tl~erehncl bcen tnllc nbont the felek* anct
sticl~sto beat us, but nt the Syud's words our
linnds were loosed, and the ar1.mecl llleil stood
across the door, ~vliilethe kotwbl seated llilllself ,
aild ordered lights. Oiir terrified servant ven-
t u r d up from t l ~ ecourt in ivliicli he had been
sleeping, and liglited a lairlp at n lnnteiil wliicl~
tliey ha(1 brongllt with them ; anci the11 I ob-
served our visitcr of the ino~liljng,who, leaning
forw;tl.cl, snid in R low arca as tic tone to tlic
Sy~zil,-" Hctva ?OIL see??? cat^ I vlcrke good
J 1 ? He :mi three or four others, wlio
1vci.e l.esl~ectnblclookiilg men, sat down near
tlie kotwr^ll; wc also se:~tedonrselves, and tlie
magistrate proceeded to exainiile LIS 2 kc6 Dog.-
~ C I ' P ~ .
The Syud, ~vliohad recovered liis temper,
was not to be daunted by tlie kotwil's high-
tone, and answered with an air of great rion-
clialallce to the queries put, that I was an Eng-
lish officer travelling to India, no Russiai~,mid
no thief to be broken in upon at midniglit,
agiinst all law and decency; tliat he was a
SYLI d of Hiildoost 411, and illy CO?I~ICJ~?LO?Ad21
* The felcl; is a bar of mood, to ~vllicha culprit's feet
are fastened, so as to expose the sole wllen he is laid on his
back to be bastinadoed.
 , ",,.,

THE SYUD'S ACCUSATION. 399

: as for that goo~u.?1zsaz3(scoundrel),
l~oy~fge
said he, c 6 who has come to forswear himself, let
llim look to his own slrin."
c C Now for your story," said the IrotwAl to the

Indian. cc Balli !" answered this villain, c' by

your excellent leave I beg to state that I knew
,these inen six months ago. Wo~zldto God I
llad never met them, I sllould not then be as I
am. I was at Damghaun, I beg to state, about
to set off with a kafilah, when these men and

to m e and aslced what I was cookiilg ; I replied

kitcl~erree (a dish of rice and peas), upon
wllich they invited me to eat with them, saying
that they would treat me to better fare. I at
first decline4 but they pressed me much, so I
went, I beg to state, and they gave me sweet-
meats, wllich as soon as I had eaten I felt my
head go r o ~ n d ,and iny eyes grow larger and
larger, and I became witllout sense. M y com,
panion also partook, as he will tell you," look-
ing round for his ally, who, apparently not well
pleased with the part he had been brought to
play, had talien place among .the men at aims,
and whom we now noticed for the first time.
I' A whole day and night," continued the
Indian, " we lay stupified, and when we came
to ourselves, the kafilall was not ; our horses
were piclteted nem, but the prisoners were
 b v

400 IITS T1EZ:RNI:E.

~ O I ~ CIizving
, talccn wit11 tlictn :I cnrpct bag, ill
wliicll were eight I~~ulilrctl t o ~ ~ ~ : m tnws o, ~nuslin
caps, nllci a lliccc of liimcob. I saw ilo 111orcof
tliclll till tllc tl:ty beI.in.c ycstcrtlny, xvllcn 1 rc-
cogi~iscdtlicln as they rode illto tllc! tow^^, :1i1(1,
Iiaviilg asccrtainrd tllcir rcsjtlc~~rc.,li)r 1 1)og
to st:~tc.tlwt tl~clycllallgc3(l.tlloir loilgillg ,rn~orc
tllarl ollec, I Initl lily rc(111cst 11c~Cor~ y ~ l i rCOII-
sidmutioli ! l?'ul.Llicl; wllat sliall 1 ljciition? illy
cnsc is in your h;lntls, to rccovcr ~ n inol~cy, y or
t o ileal xvitll tlicsc liicrl tls seclns no st lit to
your exccllclzt jndg,rmcnt."---" 1Tlluli !" mid tIlc?
Irclt~vCl,at t.11~end o f this wild story, v c is it:
thus tlint n i;is:lvcllcr :uid :I Syntl is rol~bccl?
13ring f(~l.wi~rcl tllcnir cfliic~ls, 1ilay11:q) solncl of'
t l ~ estolc11l)rol~crtyI I I : L ~ 1)~:L o r t l i ~ ~ o ~ ~ ~ i ~ ~ g , "
'(\Vllat is tlic I):lroglla's ~ l : u u c?"~ :~skctltllc
Syutl of one wllo sat. 11enr. '' l\l~(~%:h Rg:i,"
W;IS tllc ~ I I S W L L ~c c. 'l'li~~n, filccrz;~~ l g : ~s;~i(l ,"
xny fricnd coolly, " y o ~ iIlavc no law i i ~ rrvllat
you ;krc goixlg to do, tl~:it is, if' tllc 1~11~11of'
J Jcrant; arc_' BIoost*Xnl:~1ii1~ : T V C ~;lrc! 110 s h r ~ ! t l / ~ v t +
~ N / ) ( I I I ~ I ~ (rc~vc~ll~~rs
!OS 011 will(*;~11(1 l i ; ~ l ) ; ~ ~f 1~i : ~l f~ ~ ) ,
yo11 slloultl tnlic us l ~ ys t , o ~ *a~~l ~t ,4l 1 ) oi1i:rlc~rl t o
y o ~ i rclig~iity1)y C I : I I ~ I I I ( T ~iIl lI ~1)y t 1 1 roof~ ~ 01'
our. lio~lscl. 'I'1i:rt i~i:u~ 11:~stoltL ~iotliillgl)ut l i t k ~ ;
\YlB ilov<br\VOIY! a!. 1 lill tlg11:lll~l. ,lit ir I V t + cl:Ltl)tb 1jy
flic tliribt*t ro:111~ I I ~ ~ J ~I IJ ~~ ~L I z ~ ~ I Ito~ A~ s ~t ~ ~. ; i~- ; ~ I I ~ I
 EXAMINATION OF OUII EFFECTS. 401

bring us and our accuser before t h e Cazee in

open day, and do not folzet that we are guests
of Abbas Iihan, and that violence t o us is
offence to him : furthel; bef0l.e you treat this
illan tvitli indignity, know who h e is, and see a
letter tvhicli we have for tlie Shah."
This lettel; which hnrl been given me by Sir
Jolln Rfacdonnld, was dil-ected to Shahzadeh
Ilamraun, news of hlahmoud's death not having
rcached Tabreez when I started ; and the kot-
will, looking at the superscription, pronounced
it n forgery, and, throwing i't froin him, pro-
ceeded to the examinnti011 of our effects, and
caused search to be made even into the pockets
of our dresses, and under the corners of t h e
wrpets. I-Iad we beell thieves, there was no-
tlliilg in our baggnge to prove us such ; we
were not possessed of a sous, scarcely of any
thing worth one, and except, in his estimatisn,
a rather superfluous q ~ ~ a n t i tof
y camises, tlie
kotw91 found nothing to call forth an exclana-
tion. Two or three books, whicli lay on a shelf,
were handed dowil to illeerza Aga b y one
of his obsequious myrnlidons, as they hunted
about the room, and one of them chanced to
be a receipt booli for Indian coolcery. cc Ah !"
exclaimed the kotwAl, when he llad looked into
VOL. I. 2 n
if hhellcc receipt for that iiltosic:~Lingfood
whicEl tool< away the scllsos of this ullfOrt~11at~
man; say, what arc tllcsc?" 13tlt the S y ~ d ,
seeing the sillillcss of our inquisitor, :tlid ob-
sewing that his ow11 address Il:td ~ I * O ~ I L In~ C C I
favourable efl'ect upon tliose who nttenclccl, took
tlle book, and adroitly qnixxccl tllc 111:igist;rxtc,
reading out receipts for well k~lowligood clisl~cs,
a i d hinting that, if they hacl l,r!cil :it :ill iu-
jurious in thcir etrects, Blecrxa Ag:i ~ r o 1 1 1 i l11ot
have been in such good cnsc ; awl, a scrv:ult of
Abbas IChail's now coming in, and, I iuirzgi~lr!,
warning him confidentially w l ~ oI \v;las, l ~ osnit1
with all affcctntion of dignity, th;~Z;Ile .cvould
have the matter siftcd on tlic tiiorrnw, : u ~ tli:tt l
we were not to coasicicr otlrsclves at lil~crtyto
leave the llouse t~ntilhe aut11ol.isctl 11s to (10
so. IVe Ilnd an opportu~iityof sllowiilg our
civility by letting tlle party out u t tile door,
but we had rcetson to rcgrct that tlicy clici 11ot
retire as they cninc, b y tlic lloasc-top, :IS sorne
of t11ein cut thc I~lankctsfrom our llorst!sl 11acks
and carried t h c n ~oi1'.
'I'hc outr;tge Ilavir~glluchl~co~nrr~it ttlrl in the
l i o ~ ~of
s e a ~iol)lcil~:ti~
liigll in S;ivo~ir~ v i t S11:tll
l~
ICamrauu, wc g~icsseclwho ht~tlt,rilrlrt:rl it, n11d
the next day rccognising, LIS Irlcli of ~-ntlk,t;no
of tllosc who 11:1tl:iccolr~p:tnit!dtllc kot\\rhl, wo
 FI~JEE MOOLLA RA~\IAZAUN. 403
no doubt upon the subject, and resolved to
sit down quietly under the affront ; indeed, we
were congratulated upon it by our friends, who .
assured us that we might now travel where we
would., since no one could possibly suppose us
possessed of any thing valuable, if the lrotwhl
had not found it. I need scarcely say that we
did not 'consider o~~rselvesbound by that
worthy's arrest, and that we were no more
troubled either by him or by the Indian. T h e
latter, we learned shortly after, having made
the place too hot t o hold him, had talren himself
quietly away, and gone, i t was supposed, to
Candah ar ; intelligence which only interested
LIS SO far as t o make us resolve t o be on t h e
loolr-out for a rascal whose villaily we might
not be able t o defeat where we had no patrons.
The Syud had in the city of Heraut a long,
in tirnate, and very excellent fi<end, Hajee
Moollb~Ramazaun,a Sheah divine, who, for his
, great age and his good character, was looked u p
to by everybody in t h e place. We called upon
the old gentleman, and he carried his ltindness
so far as to promise to introduce m e properly
to the Sirdar on his retu1.11, so as to ensure me
good treatme~ktand tlie means of intercourse
with the Sllah if I desired it. It is, perhaps,
the part of Abbas Khan," said the old HAjee,
404 A GREAT PESIIWAZ.

c' seeing that you are his guests, but he was m y

pupil, and dare not be offended with me, and,
as I am an old man, and ~ r o b a b l y ,save the
mark! as much in the esteem of the Sirdar as
any one, m y introduction may serve you most.
Have you any present to offer the Sirdar ? any
t l ~ i n guncommon ? ' Yaili cheesee, Yaik tnroo-
fee,' a so~nethingor other ; a compliment, just
to rnai'k your respect : all men like to be ap-
proached wit11 an offering, let it be ever so
trifling, and, between ourselves, the direction of
most affairs here rests with Yar Mohulnrnud
Ifian" T h e only things that we possessed, a

capable of being offered to so great a personage,

were a few penkaives, and s a n e cases of fine
gunpowder. These the Hiijee said would be
sufficient to show our wish to be attentive, and
he undertook the delivery of them.
27th.-Early this morning a great Peshwaz
went out t o meet the army and welcoine it t o
the city. The Sirdar hit the exact minute for
entering t h e gate, and proceeded at once with
the chiefs of the army to audience of $he
Shah, making their salr~testo him as lle sat
in open durbar. Moolli RTohurninud was in
high spirits, for h e and his father-in-laFv, HAjee %
MoollA Ramazaun, had been the astrologers
*-
called upon to determine the fortunate hour,
 VISIT T O T H E SIRDAR, 405
and tile gcnerillissim~ h a d been SO favourably
ELccllc;zlg his retur11, t h a t he had promised to
give o u r friend a fine colt. " 1 thollght YOU
took :m 03th ever wearing boots again,"
said tile syud j o c u l ~ l yt o him. '' 1 did, and
1 will be trlle to my word."--ccThen what good
lvil] tile colt do yo11?" " Oh! I will give it
to olle of tile khans here, who will return me
son~ethinglilore in nly way."
i l b o u t sLlnrjse on t h e morning of t l ~ e
twenty-cigllth, w e w e n t with IIAjee MoollB
I2:wlaznun to see the Sirdar. At the outer
portal of tlle minister's quarters we met thrce
servants, one of whom carried on 11is hack an
cldcrly am1 respectable-Ioolcil~gman, who had
beer, beat on the soles of his feet until he could
not s t a ~ l du p o n t h e m . I n great pain, as he
evidently was, he did n o t forget the respect
duc to our o l d fr.iend, ordering his bearer t o
strinnd on tlie side of t h e path t o let the H[$jee
pass : the latter sllook his head, and, on our in-
(piring what f:~ultthe Inan had committed, we
were told that lie had been in t h e habit of beat;-
ing an obstreperous wife as he considered her,
~ 1 1 0~ e t i t i o l l c d the king, and obtained a royal
mandate for ller b e t t e r treatment ; bLrt the
llusbmd, like a good Mohummudan, choosing
rather t o be guided by t h e law, which autho-
406 AN UNFORTUNATE HUSBAND.

rizes the faitllful to beat their wives d c%scretio?c,

corrected his lady for her next fault, ~lpoil
wllicl~ souglit the r e f ~ ~ gofe the Shah's
harem, and l~is majesty ordered her spouse
to be beaten, as we saw, 'for disregardirig his
ii~junctions. The woman, once witllin' the
wall of the Shah's harem, could never pass it
again, and if the lnan cared in the least for her,
(as it is to be presumed lle did, by his taking
such troable to correct her,) he was thereby
punished, not to say that lle was more tlian
sufficiently so, by the scandal of his wife's bo7za
grutia divorce; and doubtless the EPAjee shook his
liead because Iiamraun had exercised his power
at the expense of the law; b u t it was amusing
to a European to hear what, according to our
civil code, would be considered a commoilly
just interposition of authority stigmatised as ari
act of unwarranted interference, an impeach -
inent of the rigllts of man.-cc Aga JAn," said
an acquaintance to whom we related what w e
had seen, cr E e n xoolm 21st !" this is op-
Cc

pression !"
The Hhjee led us through several enclosed
courts into a small one, at a door leading
from which were seated a couple of withered
eunuclls, who, aher a little demur, allowed us
to pass into a paved square, i11 which were the
 1I q~zartersof the Sirdar's brother, a singularly 1I
I
manly and bandsome nobleman, whom we found
superbly dressed in shawl cloth, seated at the
head of a select company, entertaining them
with an account of the events of the late cam-
-1i I

paign, romancing considerably, as was to be

expected from a Inan so connected, and who
had not taken part in the expedition, telling I
1 how " the troops of the Shah had gone to the
i! assistance of the troops of the Shah of l'ersia," I
f and how, Inshallalz, they had gotten themselves
a name all over Irln, k c . TVe sat here long,
in expectation of the Sirdar's coming out, and
then our old friend, leading us down into the
court below, bade us stay there while he went
to speak privately with the minister. During
the half hour that we were kept here, the court
was gradually filled by those who had influence
enough to obtain the entrke, and some feroshes,
bringing in bundles of long willows, cut them
into proper lengths, and threw tihem into a
basin that occupied the centre of the court,
to keep fresh till any one sho~zldhe ordered to
receive the bastinado.
1
A t last Sirdar P a r Mol~ulnmudKhan came
i out, attended by a few particular friends, the
chief of whom was Hkjee l"lloo1lR Rninaza~~n,
who, beclroning us to keep near him, desired
a ferosh to look t o us, a necessary precaution,
for the great man was presently lost in the
crowd, who hurried r o ~ l n dhini to offer their
compliments : he took some t o his bosom, and .
gave his joined hands t o the less distinguished,
moving across the court the while, as well as
he could, to a flight of steps which led to a
large upper room : the crowd pressed after
him with little regard to order, and, but
for the assistance of the ferosh, we might not
have obtained place in the apartment. W h e n
we were all seated on our heels, nearly as many
as the room would contain, Htijee MoollA Ram-
azaun, who was on the right of the Sirdar, sat
up, and, wit11 a manner which was rendered
peculiarly inipressive by his venerable appear-
ance, @ve thanks for the Sirdar's happy return,
and prayed for a blessing upon him, the com-
pany joining in the wish, passing their l~ands
down their beards at the conclusion, and re-
peating severally, " UZZtiAo Ikbur." Then the
Sirdar was particularly greeted by friends among
the company : cc She raughZ6 Si~dar!Sirdcv,
she rcczcg?zEk." cc You are welcome, Sirdar," and
he answered them nearly in the same words,
and looked round the apartment, nodding
kindly to those who met his eye.
When we saw Yar IVIollt~n~tnud Khan in
 HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE. 409
camp, he struck me as rather a coarse vulgar-
looking man; loolcing a t him now, as he sat,
handsomely dressed, i n the seat of honour, he
appeared to be a person of considerable dignity:
his thick black beard had been combed out
to its length, and n pair of large dark eyes,
animated with the pleasure that he felt at the
attentions lavished upon him, gave an intelli-
gent expression to what otl~ermisewould have
bcen a heavy countenance. He was now at
the pinnacle of court favour, premier, and
commander-in-chief ; and his brothers held all
the good appointments that ICainraun had i11
his gift. When we inq~liredif the Shah was
going to marc11 upon Candallar, we were sn-
swered, " Thzt depends upon the Sirdar ; we
shall see what he will advise." Our audience
did not last long; the HAjee's rising t o take
leave was as a signal for the rest of the com-
pany to retire, and we dispersed to our homes.
Our friend told us on the way that the Sirdar
was well disposed towards us, and that he
would take an early opportunity of explaining
to the Shah who I was.
In the evening we went to see Abbas IChan,
whom we found engaged in the ceremonious
task of receiving a crowd of visiters of diffcrent
ranks, " cZecd wo bcZz cleed," as they term it, or
the interchange of visits ; a person of any con-
sideration, returning home from travel, being
forlnally waited upon by all the respectable
lnen of the place, whose visits to a certain ex-
tent he is obliged to return.
Among the men of degree seated with him,
Abbas Khan introduced us to the attAr bashee,
or ilpotl~ecaly-general, a man so entirely in the
confidence of the Shah, that he was scarcely
ever out of the private apartments in t h e palacc
-an honour which, to look at his wasted figure
and sunkell eye, he had earned at soilae cost.
H e must have been a man of merit, for be con-
trived to enjoy the favour 'of the Shah, ket:]~
on good terms with the minister at war, ancl
please all classes of the peoplc. His original
rank was that of a druggist in the city, in
whicll capacity he enjoyed a consideration whicll
eventually led in a singular manner to his rise.
When Prince HAjee Ferooz Oodeei~, after iL
long rule at Heraut, was seized and plundered
by Futteh Khan, Mahmood's Vuzeer, his chici'
officers, fearing lest their effects should be con-
fiscated, privately confided their valuables to
the care of the druggist, wlio, it was thought,
would not be suspected ; but Shahzadeh ICam-
raun, corni~igto Heraut shortly aftel; received
iatirnation of the circunlstance, and set about
 IIIS JUDICIOUS CONDUCT. 411
l~imself of tbe wealth. The att2r
was asleep ill the interior of his house one nigllt,
when hewas broken in upon bya party of thieves.
H e amolie at the noise of their entrance, and
would 11mc given tlie alarm, but, glancing a t
the intruders, he saw tliat ICainraun was one
of them ; so, covering his head'with the bed-
clothes, be lay quiet, aad suffered them to break
boxes and carry off what they sougl~t. From
t h a t time he had gradually risen to dignity,
and, a short time before, having watched ICam-
raun tllrough a dangerous illness, lie had quite
won the favour of the monarch, who, it was
said, trusted him wit11 all his secrets.
It so happened that our Persian companion,
Aga I-Iossein, tvas related to the a t t 4 bAas1lee,
and, as he had told our history, the minister
bowed graciously when Abbas Khan intro-
duced us, and toolr charge of the letter for
ICamraun, which had been rejected by the
kottvil. This worthy was seated among the
visiters tvllen we entered, and appeared ill a t
liis ease, when Abbas Khaa introduced me as
an Elcllee from the great Elchee at Tehraun,
a gentleman of distinction, his friend and
guest ; and the Syud, as a marl of the highest
acquirements and a person in e v e v way to be
csteemed. I84y hiend's eye sparkled at the
412 BRRONEOUS NOTIONS.

opportunity, and in the most cutting manner,

yet with an air of studied politeness, he told
our host that we were already so fortunate
as to know the kotwu, he having conferred
upon us the honoar of a visit only the second
night of our arrival ; and he quizzed the

casms, he could not well openly take exceptiori

at the words. A young Affghaun ilobleman
named Sl~umshooddenI<han, a favouiite of
the Shall's, wlio had married his said beautiful
sister, occupied the seat next to the attar
bAshee : he appeared to enjoy the joke much,
and doubtless so did our host, tllough he was
too well bred, on such an occasion, to show his
resentment for tlie indignityput upon his guests.
My coming caused the conversation to turn
llpon Frai-tg, which they understood to be a
different country from that inhabited by the
Oroos. I n cornpalison wit11 the Russian, I
found that neither my countryinen nor the
people of any other European iiation were con-
sidered of consequence : indeed some conceived
from his title, IMPER~~TOOR-E-AZUM, " The
.Supreme Emperor," that the Russian Autocrat
(rave the law to the kings of Enrope. Wonder-
b
ful thiilgs were asserted of the Oroos, particu-
 AFPGUAUN CREDULITY. 413
larly about their milithry deeds. Shumshood-
deen I(han, who engrossed much of the con-
versation, among other things, told the company
that no fort could Ilold out against this people,
for that they never stopped at a ditch, marching
soldiers into it until i t was filled, and so on
over their heads to the storm : and our host,
whom I had credited for better sense, said he
understood that on a certain occasion provi-
sions falling short in his army, the General-c
Oroos gave orders that fifty thousand inen should
be killed and served out as rations. "Allah ho
Rubbee !" ejaculated an old Affghaun gentle-
man, " God is my protector ! Is it possible 9
why they are cannibals, and must have a larger
army than Timour had."
I could scarcely believe Abbas Khan was not
speaking in jest, but he seemed quite serious,
and I really believe mentioned the anecdote to
illustrate the discipline of the Russian army :
certainly his company credited the ,story ; but
what bouilds can be set to the credulity of Inen
who believe that the Chinese are such skilful
mechanics, that they can make horses which
will go for two or three days, and sell them as
real animals ? W e were gravely told of a per-
son who married a Chinese wife made of paste-
board and springs, and who only foui~dout
414 REVIEW O F OUR ROUTE.

the cheat three days after the wedding. Abbas

Khan made us return to dinner, and was as
good as his promise a t Meshed, establishing us
in the house which had been emptied for our
nccom~l~odation, frequently seeking our society,
and endeavouring t o make our time pass
agreeably.
I will now take a slight review of the
conntry which we passed through coming from
hfeshed. Allowing four miles an hour for the
average of horses' inarch (which is little if any
thing in excess, as the horses amble), we tra-
velled from Meshed t o Heraut two hundred
and thirty-two miles. We fell in with the
usual lcafilah road when me got o u t of the hills
before Toorbut-e Shaikh J a m : the distance by
the latter route is said to be sixty furs~zkl-ls,or
two hundred and forty English miles ; and,
having ill my journal shown tlie country from
Toorbut-e Shaikh Jam, I may here content
myself with describing from native irlforlnation
the road from Meshed t o that place.
The first march is t o Sungbust, six and a
half fursukhs. T h e mountains are crossed
easily, and at Sungbust there is a caravan-
sera, and " grass and forage for one thousand
110rses."
The two next marches are to Hadeers and
ICL~ireabntl,unin11;ibitcd l~laces,where tllerc is
water. The fourth day's mnl-cli is to 3I:~li-
moodabncl, n sm:111 I-I~zalire11torvii of two
lii~~iclr~cl I~OUSCS,am1 the fifth takes you to
Toorbut-e Slinikll J a u ~ . Thence knfilalis usually
go, vici tllc reservoir of Iiaufir lii~llnli,to ICah-
reczc, also L: tow11 or villilg:'~of two Iiundred
llouses, inhabited by IIazaurelis, rernaw1;nble for
the esccllcnce of tlie meloils grown tlicrc, two
of which, we were assuretl by ilinr~y~ C ~ S O I I S ,
were )lot n bad load fbr :I ululc, ;111it ~vllich,:L
1111111 protested to us, wcre so full of juice, that
if a r i c h g~llopedliis l-lorsc ~vitliintwo rililes of
the ground in wllicll tliey were cultivated thcy
\vould burst !-this is lilic the '' come eat me"
of the plum-puddil~gs of fairy laild. Fro111
I<alirceze tlic mad goes by ICousan and Sliub-
busli to Rosnnuck, or to Gllourian, and so on
to Heraut.
~ravellersby this route for tlie most part
carry their ow11 provisions : fortnerly, as stated
in a preceding page, the great road lay on the
vest of tlie hills, vid tlie towns of Toorbut-e
EIyclcrah and l<hauff.
Coming tlie latter way from Aleshed, yo11
travel two fursukhs to Toorook-e Baulal~, or
upper Toorook, two miles or so beyolld 1vllic11
you colninence the ascent of the great hills.
., >- -,--.- - -. .-- , --^-.,
'8.~.
,.. .*.L.+bw ,-. -?* #,,. ,,5;,--:-:
. :x?~:~<.. ..
..C '

41 6 REVIEW OF OUR ROUTE.

The kotul is steep, but not so difficult as that

of Dui~ood,for Tukht-e Rahwans * and camels
bearing ltajavahs ascend it ; and, 'whereas the
ltotul of Durrood is barely passable in winter
from the snow, this road is open a11 the year,
and guns might be got over it. The siunmit
of these mountains is a very broad table-land.
Tbe road is hilly to Shereefabad, the first stage
from Meshed, a village of forty houses, where is
a.'sera and rnucli good water. Froin Shereef-
abad to IChauff the road is easy, and water is
had in plenty : at IChanff the soil becomes
sandy, water scarce and brackish : you march
thirty-two miles, witl~outmeeting with water,
to D6na IIaAt ; sixteen iniles beyond the latter
place is a spring of indifferent water, and then
you are twelve miles from Ghourian. l?~.om
Ghourian to Heraut the distailce is ten fur-
sukhs ; nothing but villages and gardens all
the way. '

From Toorbut-e Hyderah to Ghourian theye

is another, and, as far as regards water, appa-
rently a better road -vi8 Dowlutabad, Him-
5?

f:
mutabad, ICulla11 Aga EIussan, Sheller-e Noh, i
Meshed Heza, Tauyebad, and Icsusan: and I
there is a road from Shereefabad to Sheher-e iI ' '

Noh, avoiding Toorbut-e Ilyderah ; vid Robat-e 1'

.?
 REVIEW OF OUR ROUTE: 417
Suffeid, Nusr ICullaush, Butroo, and Check-
mauk. According' to the information we re-
ceived, tliere are ICullahs and a little cultiva-
tion a t all the stages on the first road. she-
her-e Noh is a small town. Neither the relative
distances nor the directibns of these places
could be clearly ascertained ; I troubled myself
considerably in the atteinpt to fix them, but no
two persons whoni I inquired of had the same
idea of distance. One traveller, more honest
than the rest, said, in answer to my paxticular
inquiries about stages, when he had given me a
route which was prolonged some thirty miles
beyond what it possibly could be, cc Rhoda
donud Aga !" -" God knows, sir, how far it
was ; sometimes we went slow, sometimes fast,
we travelled in fear of -property
- - and fear of life,
aid my only thought was to get to the end of
the m&rch." I mention the names of these
places because they are at least points. where
water may be had, and they may serve as a
clue for subsequent enquirers with better
means.
*

. .
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
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